Behind Closed Doors
by Jaili
Summary: What Gunnar does when he is not with the other Expendables is a mystery. There is one however who does know at least some of what he does when out of the sight of his companions. This story parallels Expendables 1 & 2 for the most part.
1. Chapter 1

Hello! This is my shot at some fun with Expendables. I have a bad habit of getting shy and stopping writing but I promise that if this is well received, I will continue to write it until it is complete. Thank you and enjoy.

This story progresses through The Expendables 1 & 2

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What did Gunnar do in his free time? That time between missions where a drug addicted, arguably sociopathic, giant was free to roam as he pleased. I could answer that question, at least partially. Because my name is Kayle and I have been both terrorized and saved by him on multiple occasions.

Why wouldn't I contact the authorities you say? Because I believed him when he pulled out a knife that was longer than my forearm and told me that he kills for a living, and I'd never survive the experience of ratting him out. In some ways I've come to expect, even to anticipate, his appearances after lengthy absences.

Maybe I'm the one who's messed up, to say something like that. I am often second guessing myself and my thoughts, it's a bad habit. Oh well, enough about me. We both know that I'm here to tell you my story and you're here to hear it.

It was dark out, but couldn't see that just yet. I was sitting on my usual bar stool smiling and talking to the bartender as I drummed my fingers against my empty beer bottle. This place was called The Nexus, a small night club only a few blocks from my home, and I visited it every Saturday and Sunday evening to unwind. Always alone though, and that was the way I preferred it for the most part. I kept my attire dark and simple, nothing to attract any overly large amounts of attention. My mid back length hair was light brown with a hint of red and feathery at the tips, I was sure to always let it down when I was there.

"Well Gary, it's about time I head home, you have a good night." I smiled and nodded at the older man across from me, handing him my empty beer for recycling, over my time visiting the bar I realized he was fond of it. "Alright girl, you be safe." He waved me off like he did every other night when I left, and I'd politely nod and smile to the bouncer who's name I had yet to pick up, while pushing open the heavy metal door and strolling out into the dark streets.

As I immediately took to walking, I did not take notice of the three people quietly filing out of the bar behind me. I rubbed my fingertips together, enjoying the pleasant buzz I had from my two beers, smiling to myself as I walked. It wasn't until a solid block of walking down the sparsely illuminated streets did I hear something, however it was not the men following me. "Fuck you!" howled a deep voice, followed by the sound of something smashing metal, a string of curses chasing after the echoing noise that made me leap a good foot forwards and go rigid in both surprise and fear.

My momentary stunning was quickly dispelled as my natural concern for others overrode it and all common sense, making a quick dash for the alleyway I heard the commotion from. I came to a skidding halt on the damp pavement in front of the alley and looked in, my questioning shout coming out before I absorbed what I saw "Hey! Are you okay..." My voice quickly quieting down and fading away as I saw a partially hunched man with short hair, the color I couldn't discern in the dark, but his overall pose was threatening.. As was the shredded and stomped garbage can at his feet, hinting at the temper I had heard only a moment ago.

His head jerked to look in my direction and my eyes widened, taking a slow stride backwards and raising my hands up in a meek defensive pose. Finding my voice before he could say anything, or move any more for that matter, the guy looked like a giant. I barked out "Uhh, nevermind!" and turned stiffly, my rising adrenaline dispelling all fearfully seized muscles as I bounded off without a second thought on the matter, eager to put many more yards, no, miles in between myself and that man. What I did not register was the three men who took to a run after me as well, the blood thundering in my ears obscuring their dashing feet.

A solid block away I slowed to a stumbling walk, panting and looking back over my shoulder. It was my turn to do a double take as I saw the three men crossing beneath the weak light of a street lamp not far behind me, their own sounds bombarding my ears as my adrenaline cleared. They were laughing and I was pretty sure I caught a snide remark about me running from something else I saw.

Taking a calming breath I turned to face them fully, keeping a relaxed stance. I had no formal training to defend myself, but I had the body of an honest working person who enjoyed exercise. Fat load of good that's about to do you now, I thought to myself ruefully as I finally was able to take in their facial features.

Each had to be around six feet tall, one a little shorter, one a little taller and the one in the center of the group about 6 foot. None of them particularly muscular I noted, eyes grazing their bare arms, sleeveless shirts and baggy pants. Unremarkable men, but all with a cruel look on their face, like this is a familiar scenario to them. Finally I nodded to them politely and murmured "Hello, I can't help but notice you're actually following me. Care to explain?" The man in the middle of the small pack, who I figured was their little group leader, snapped a quick laugh followed by the chuckling hyena laughter of his friends.

"Oh yeah, we've followed you for a while darling, such manners. Too bad manners have no place on the streets this late a night, right?" As he finished speaking I saw the knives being drawn from pockets, each small-sized in my opinion. Brandishing his knife towards me, I kept my hands loose at my sides and feigned a relaxed manner, it was important to not seem as panicked as I felt, I figured. "You can get on your knees now and please us all without complaint and then we'll let you go in one piece, or you can make it hard and we leave you as a jigsaw puzzle for the police to put back together, your call."

My eyes widened just a tinge before I caught myself as I happened to glance someone passing under the street light behind the thugs. Biting my lip briefly in thought, I slowly let a smile creep across my face, knitting my brows to hopefully help make my message sound more serious. "Gentlemen, there's no need for all of this. I am not inclined to violence, but so help me if you don't put your tinker toys away and leave immediately, you wont be left conscious enough to regret it." I smiled as there was a pregnant pause among the group, each looking towards the man in the middle to make their decision for them.

All the while I saw what I recognized to be the man from the alleyway creeping up silently behind them, his size was more startling now that I had the three men in front of him for scale. His grizzled face had a smile of its own, clearly he also heard what I said to them, and with any luck, agreed to the unspoken part of my message.

What felt like a small eternity passed and was probably only a few moments in reality, I saw the posture and expression change and knew the thugs answer before he said it, but waited anyways. Gesturing aggressively with his knife, he snarled "Wrong answer, bitch!" Bolstered by their leader, all three made to jump towards me, my hands raising in a defensive gesture, taking a half step back in hopes of avoiding some of the incoming damage.

It was also at that moment the giant behind the charging three made his move. A quick swoop with a booted foot yanked the legs out from under the one man on the left, who fell and by the startled gasp of pain, also managed to stab himself like an idiot. Within the same breath the man on the far right was grabbed by the back of his shirt, lifted up and tossed hard to the side of the nearby building with a sharp jerk, letting out a winded grunt.

Unaware of what just happened to his partners in crime, I was left facing the charging leader. I was emboldened by my defender however, and as the man with the knife collided with me I anchored myself in place, jamming my hands into his armpit and locking my fingers around his arm, turning sharply and bending forwards to hip toss him with mostly his own momentum. Enraged, he landed and spun around to take a wild stab at me as I backed away. I was quickly shoved aside to avoid the swipe by my defender however, at which point I drove my foot into the face of the one man who was tossed into the wall and recovering, watching him get knocked out cold.

There was a suspicious lack of sound behind me at that point. Feeling secure, I turned to see the thug leader on one knee, life sliding from his fingertips and tinking on the ground uselessly. I saw his lips moving and barely heard what he said, his complexion as pale as a ghost. "We didn't know, please, let us go. It won't happen again.. I s-s-wear it!"

Quirking a brow, I took this time to look over the back of my current hero. He had an unbuttoned, blue and white checkered shirt and some old jeans on, overall pretty nondescript. Only remarkable thing was his overall height, I surmised. Within the few moments I spent observing him, I heard what was apparently a displeased grunt from him and watched his leg kick out and by the sound of it, break the collar-bone of the man who promptly fell back and let out a choked screech.

Wincing as I listened to the pained sound quickly cut off by a kick to the head, but otherwise not feeling very sympathetic, I took stock of the other two men dispassionately before looking back towards my hero, his back still turned to me. Gathering my courage, I straightened up and called out to him softly "Hey man, thank you. And err, sorry for running off, gave me a bit of a scare..." Apparently I startled him from his own revery and he jerked slightly, turning completely to face me. His visage was frightening to me, the look on his face as though he was in a different world, but I steeled myself - he clearly helped me, what kind of pansy am I to be afraid of him when he put himself in harm's way for me?

I watched a bead of sweat slide down his cheek, visible with the dim glow of the street light some distance behind me. Finally, his voice ground out "I just don't like sharing." My stomach dropped into my feet, my insides going cold as I stayed stock still and prayed he was about to laugh and say "got you!" Blinking several times, that moment did not happen. He looked down and around at the ruined men for a moment before looking back at me, learning forwards slightly - an intimidating gesture, I felt - "Get moving, go home."

Not exactly what I was expecting at this point, I jerked into action and nearly stumbled over the man who managed to stab himself when he fell, unsure if he was dead or faking it to avoid being knocked out or not. Walking stiffly past him and the unconscious thug leader I tried to sort out a plan in my mind, numbly walking towards my home while thinking to myself "one block left" and dreading every step towards it now.

My unwanted companion was silent, but I observed that he continued to sweat despite the cool temperature of the evening and his fingers would twitch unconsciously. I kept snagging glances of him under each source of light as we went, not wanting to test his patience by trying to run. Swallowing my fears, I brought him to the steps of my small home, an old stone building wedged between two others. Pausing in front of the door, my hands limp at my sides as I looked up at him then, seeing him stare down at me. It was then I realized he had these very piercing blue-grey eyes, and I felt a little chuckle brewing inside me which I wouldn't dare voice.

Taking a quick breath I murmured "Look, I'm very thankful that you helped me out of that situation, I know it would've gone very differently if you did not intervene but, please..." trying my best to keep my voice even and keep my feelings from overwhelming me at this point, I stared at him hard - noting then that his pupils were actually as big as saucers. Drugs, of course. "I don't know what you were doing in the alley, I don't want to, and I don't know your name or anything like that... I will happily not contact the police if you just leave me be, and I will remain thankful for what you did for me."

His hand came to rest on the door beside my head as he leaned forwards over me, letting out a dark chuckle which forced a grimace from me. "Just open the door." Shakily nodding my head I dug into my pocket and retrieved my keys, turning to unlock the door as I felt his chest briefly touch my shoulder before he straightened up again.

Fingers trembling uncontrollably, it took longer than I'd care to admit before I managed to open the door and stumble in, feeling a kind of numb shock roll over me. The inside of my home was very modest, a stairway going upstairs to my right, the kitchen down the hall straight ahead, and the small living room to the left through a doorway with no door. Stepping in, I immediately leaned against the wooden railing post that lead up the stairs, resting my head against the cool wood and drawing a steadying breath. "Well, we're in. Your move."

I heard the door shut behind me and his heavy footsteps making the wooden floorboards creak angrily. Jerking slightly as I felt his fingertips curl around my neck slightly, turning my head towards him and tilting my chin up so I looked him in the eyes as he flicked the light switch beside us on. Blinking a couple of times as my eyes adjusted, I stared back at him with the same intensity he was staring at me, but for what were different reasons, I figured.

I didn't notice it until his free hand-made a move towards it, but when he reached towards the inside of his open shirt I saw the black strap across his chest, hinting at something holstered there. Going as still as stone I watched with morbid fascination was he withdrew what had to be the biggest knife I had ever seen, probably longer than my forearm and certainly thicker than it. Twitching in his grasp slightly I watched as he brought it to the base of my jaw, resting the flat of it against my jugular.

The sound of my blood pounding nearly flooded my hearing, but I heard with clarity as I watched his lips move and his drug addled stare hold me in place. "You wont be calling the police. I kill people for a living and should you decide that you want to try and rat me out, you will not live to experience it for long." My insides were constricting painfully as I digested the information and tried to not move with the knife against my neck, but it was only the span of a few moments before he leaned back, hand slipping from my neck and knife being slid back into the sheath in his shirt. Leaning forwards he gave me a quick kiss on the cheek, my eyes damn near popping as I kept stock still while he chuckled "See you around, sweet cheeks."

While I watched him leave, hunching through the door frame more as a natural reaction than actually needing to duck because it was too short, it wasn't until the outside door clicked shut that I really registered him being gone. My shaking hand slowly reached up and touched where he pecked my cheek, the entire night crashing down on my mind all at once. As I slid down to the floor and let out a choked sob, it was time for me to unravel and attempt to process everything.


	2. Chapter 2

Thank you for your reviews and favorites, they are greatly appreciated! I hope you enjoy where I take this and have as much fun reading it as I do writing it.

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It was a solid week before I gathered up the nerve to leave my home again. I had to call my boss and make up some bullshit excuse about a family emergency. Thankfully John recognizes my worth as a hard working, high quality employee. I am actually a construction worker and specialize in tin work, fascia and the like, on houses.

After the man who's name I never even managed to get left the house, I had retreated into my mind and tried to cope with the fear that gripped me tightly from there on out. There was a point where I tentatively turned on the television to check the news and saw a brief headline about the three men found and taken to hospital. At that point I had a panic attack and hoped beyond all hope that should they recover fully they wouldn't come seeking revenge or worse, tell the police about me and make themselves look like the victims.

By the time every last crumb of food in my home had been used up, I was still working up my courage and confidence. With great chagrin I finally took the time to make myself look presentable and went out to get some groceries, looking at it more like a test than what it simply was.

Gripping the door knob until my knuckles turned white, I finally mentally kicked myself into gear and stepped out into the warm afternoon sun, half closing my eyes for a moment as I took in the fresh air. Taking a long breath I closed the door and locked up the house quickly, making my way to my little red Honda at the curb. Putting my hair back up in a tight ponytail I slowly turned the ignition and took in the sound of my poor car puttering to life, nodding slowly to myself and clenching my jaw briefly before taking off to the grocery store.

I found my mind wandering to the man who both saved and scared the hell out of me that night as I scanned over all the people I passed, in vehicles or otherwise. Shaking my head and frowning at the direction of my thoughts, it was a struggle to keep focused the entire ride and I was thankful to finally pull into the parking lot of my destination. Gathering my groceries was an uneventful process, but as I pulled my cart up to the register an image on the local newspaper caught my eye.

Not pausing to read it since I had a few people behind me, I grabbed the paper and mixed it up with my groceries as they were being ringed up. Smiling and nodding at the cashier I went through the motions of being polite, much like she had to, all while feeling a building tension inside me as I became more aware of how many people were around me, some even looking at me too. Steeling myself I paid and put my bags away as fast as I thought I reasonably could without looking as full of dread as I felt, no need to attract attention.

My rising panic attack halted in place, a cold coil around my insides that was no longer tightening, as soon as I got outside into the sunshine. Each step I focused hard on my vehicle, taking slow breaths and feeling the coil inside me unwind. The process of putting the groceries into the trunk of the car proved therapeutic and as I came to slide comfortably into my seat I slowly looked towards the news paper that I had discarded onto the passenger side seat.

My spark of curiosity that lead to the initial purchase of the paper reignited in that moment and I quickly grabbed it, intent on sating myself before I went anywhere else. Two images greeted me initially, a large window for some kind of industrial building completely broken and shattered glass all across the ground around it, followed by a smaller picture of a man being loaded into an ambulance via stretcher. I knew that man, the grainy image of his face with the oxygen mask over it not enough to stop me from recognizing him, all details I could catch that night burned into my mind as sure as anything.

Compelled by my morbid curiosity at this point, I hungrily read through the entire article about the culmination of a high speed chase and the brief fight that followed the wrecking of two vehicles inside the facility. There was the one man who'd been left behind after being shot and evidence of a physical struggle, but all guns had been removed from the scene and the public was left wondering if the gunshot victim was really that much of a victim.

My mouth set in a grim line as I considered the information given me, no name or anything for the man, but I felt a rising compulsion to act upon what I now knew. "This is how you got into that situation in the first place, you know.." I mumbled to myself, but there was that whisper of the reasonable voice inside reminding that had he not noted me, that fight with the three men would've gone a totally different direction. Nodding slightly to my inner monologue, I turned the car on and set for home to put away my groceries as fast as I could.

The date of the newspaper was a few days old, maybe he isn't there anymore, I conceded to myself as I looked up at the hospital from the parking lot. But surely gunshot victims under such suspicious circumstances were not let free without a proper amount of questioning at the very least, I reasoned. Swallowing the lump in my throat I strode forwards, counting my steps right up to the doors of the building before forcing them open with my leaden arms.

As I waited in line I fidgeted with the newspaper clipping I took, the image of him in the stretcher. Going over my responses to the questions that may be asked and reinforcing my responses to appear more confident. Finally my leaden feet shuffled to the front of the desk and I looked across at the young nurse working the counter, forcing a smile at her. "Hello, I am here to see this man." placing the paper clipping on the counter for her to look at, I watched her face as she picked it up and considered it. "He is my cousin and I just found out that was him on the stretcher. Unfortunately we don't have the same last name but I assure you we're family."

I smiled inside as she nodded and slid the clipping back to me, looking at me and lowering her voice slightly "It's good to know he has some family that cares about him, poor guy. I will take you to his room in a minute, if you'd please wait." Nodding I went to sit down and wait, sliding the clipping into my pocket and thinking over the information gleaned from the small confession of the nurse. So no one else had visited him, that was good for me, I supposed. A little sad like the nurse said though, I admitted to myself.

Within a few minutes I was following the nurse up the stairs, we took so many turns and went through so many hallways I ended up chuckling and remarking as I looked at her "If I didn't know any better, I'd think you were trying to get me lost." She laughed and shook her head "Just ahead now, almost there." making a brief gesture forwards with her hand as we rounded the final corner, I saw then the checkpoint with locked doors, quirking a brow but waiting to see what this was about first.

Nodding politely to the guard who briefly checked the nurses ID, I watched and listened to their conversation. "Our gun shot victim finally has a family member to visit him, Ed." I smiled in confirmation as he looked at me before nodding "Good to hear, you have fifteen minutes miss." Without further pause we were admitted and I was taken to his room. Left there by the cheery nurse, all I had left for companionship was the rising coil of dread inside me, which I promptly forced down as I stepped into the room and closed the door behind me.

A part of me was not expecting him to be awake in his bed and looking at me, making me pause on the spot. His head tilted just slightly while the corner of his lip made a brief attempt at a smile. "You were not the person I expected to see walking through that door, I admit." His voice was low, quieter than I remember it being. Perhaps it was the IV drip plugged into him, or that he was laid back in the bed that made me feel moderately less threatened than I rightly should have felt, but I found myself walking up to his side all the same.

"I saw the news and felt I owed it to you to visit, since I couldn't be there to save you from the bullet." I made a weak gesture towards his bandaged torso, which only registered as otherwise bare to me within that moment. Smirking at me cockily he put his hand palm up and made a small finger wiggling gesture for me to take it. "Knew you digged me."

The absurdity of it all hit me full force and my lips curled into a tight smile that I tried to fight down. Raising my hand I placed it in his large rough one. Shaking my head and chuckling softly, he joined in too for a few moments before it died back down. Sighing I gave his hand a small squeeze, like I could gain some kind of courage from him somehow. "I am glad you are alive. Regardless of what happened, I will always be thankful." I kept my dark green eyes locked on his pale blue ones and waited for his response with some rising degree of tension. "That's great, because they are releasing me today and I need a place to stay for a few days." To be a fly on the wall would be to see my eyes damn near popping.

My eyebrows began to knit together as I started to build the inner fury I needed to explain just how not welcome he was to come back to my home before I was cut off. "Bullet wound has actually been fine for days, they had me on this drip to get the drugs out of my system and that is what has taken the longest." Eyes narrowing sharply, I held his gaze as he gave my hand a small squeeze, weighing his words.

As I approached the security guard looking notably more harried than before he seemed to pick up on my distress and questioned me "Excuse me miss, everything alright? He didn't do anything, did he?" I shook my head perhaps a little more vigorously than necessary, forcing a smile before responding "Oh no I'm fine, sorry to worry you. It was just distressing seeing that he had gotten shot, he was so very lucky to survive that." He appeared to buy into it well enough, I idly wondered where my capacity to bullshit came from. Perhaps my coworkers, I reasoned, they aren't exactly the most morally sound people.

"Of course, he is being released this evening, will you be the one to pick him up?" I nodded in confirmation, my hands resting in my pant pockets to hide my fidgeting fingertips. "Yes I will. Thank you for taking care of him!" He shrugged, "No problem." Not like he actually did anything but make sure he didn't escape I conceded to myself, but ah well. I made my way out of there and started thinking on the days to come.

When I came back to pick him up he was standing slightly hunched at the entrance and I waved him over when I caught his eye. He made a dirty look which I thought was directed at me for a second before I realized he was looking over my tiny car, to which I couldn't help but bark a laugh. Unlocking the door for him I watched with a decidedly cheshire smile, lips curled tightly, seeing him squeeze into the vehicle and try to mind his shoulder at the same time. "Do keep in mind you're the one who asked me for a place to stay, the vehicle comes with the package." I turned the ignition and smirked as he quipped "Yeah well I didn't know the damn package was as small as you." Placing a hand on my heart I made a dramatic gasp "I'm not small! I'll have you know I'm above average for a woman. Not my fault you're some kind of hill giant. Speaking of which, have fun with the couch." He groaned unhappily.

I had noticed that they gave him his old clothing that he got shot in, thankfully they cleaned it at least. But there was still a large bullet hole and no amount of bleach was ever going to remove all of that dark red. Girding myself as I pulled up to my home, my thoughts were clouded with worries over what I was welcoming into my life and what I was going to do to bring it all back to normalcy after this ordeal. I quickly hopped out of the vehicle and went to his side to offer a hand, since the vehicle was pretty low to the ground.

Waving me off he opted to brace a hand on the door frame and the other on the car seat, he heaved himself out with a pained grunt and his expression proved he was grateful to be standing straight once again. Looking up at him and sighing slightly as he closed the door, I locked the vehicle with one click of a button and spun around, pocketing the keys and striding to my house with that leaden feeling I experienced the first time he was behind me here.

I had to pause a second to calm the shake of my hand as I jammed the keys into the door instead of the keyhole, getting it on the second try and slipping into my sanctuary quickly. It was like I had stepped back in time, my home only lighter than the previous encounter. I rested my arm on the knob of the staircase railing and hopped out of my shoes while looking back to him as he closed the doors. Seeking to dispel the tension I felt inside of myself, I paused and looked towards him. "What is your name anyways? I was not able to hear it from any of the staff at the hospital, or read it in the paper."

"Gunnar" he said easily, toeing out of his boots and sliding them across the floor to sit comically beside mine, like giant clown shoes in comparison. Pleased to at least have a name to his face, I nodded and started walking towards the doorway of the living room, intent on showing him his temporary living quarters. However, I was halted by his hand dropping to my shoulder lightly and halting me as surely as a firm grip could have.

Turning my head I quirked my brow in query and mumbled "Yeah?" he seemed to pause, watching my expression carefully before responding "And your name is?" Oh, of course. I cursed my brief reluctant pause as his expression mirrored his rising impatience "Kayle. Your cousin, if you ask the hospital staff. Couch is in here." Jerking my head towards the doorway I felt his hand slip off my shoulder and stepped through the doorway quickly, listening to his steps as he followed me.

"Lucky for you it's one of those old bed flipping couches, although I guess you should be careful about how quick you sit on the thing, legs might collapse." I expressed thoughtfully as I stood before it, rubbing my chin in contemplation as he stepped up beside me. "That works, thanks." I gave the bridge of my nose a quick pinch and started to walk through the archway behind the couch into the dining room which was bare but for my small table with two chairs. Offhandedly I made a flicking gesture with my hand "Make yourself at home, kitchen is through here and bathroom is upstairs. Do you have clothing anywhere by the way? I hate to say it but you look a bit frightening with the whole bullet hole, covered in blood look you've got going on."

I listened curiously for his response as I zoomed in on the coffee pot in the kitchen. Going through the motions of making a pot automatically, I heard the squeak of the bed followed by the collapse of the foldable legs and a sharp grunt followed by a pained curse. "Told you so" I said, but quiet enough for only me to hear. I listened to the sound of him righting the bed and trying to sit on it again with success this time, smirking as I took a deep breath of the first smell of brewing coffee, letting it wash away all my doubts for the time being.

Finally I heard him call from his bed, voice carrying easily through the house. "Need a hand." Mouth pinching slightly to the side as I held my coffee cup, weighing his need for a hand and my need for caffeine. Sighing I placed the cup beside the pot and shuffled straight down the hall to the living room, speaking before actually looking at him "Are you actually going to answer my question or leave me guess...ing" my voice trailed off as I saw his blood stained checkered shirt half off, clearly he couldn't get it off his injured shoulder. But the part that really gave me pause was his bare torso once again. Kicking myself mentally, his smirk made it very clear he caught my line of thought. "I will pick some up myself tomorrow, but for now this can go off, if you don't mind."

Catching a breath and holding it I jerkily stepped into the room and then swooped over to him quickly. Standing in front of him and looking at the ruined shirt for a few moments before reaching up to it and taking hold of it gingerly, taking care not to jar the injury. He had his free hand resting on the bed beside him and visibly grit his teeth as he lifted his arm upwards to let me slide the shirt off it, which I did quickly as a mercy. "There we go then. Guess you'll need to wear this tomorrow or something, I'll just leave it here." Folding it up quickly I placed it on the coffee table beside the temporary bed and grabbed the remote. Gesturing to my pride and joy, the huge television and stereo system before him, I held the remote out to him "All yours."

I kept a poker face as I looked him in the eye but through my peripheral view watched his arm muscle flex when he reached for it, smirking at my own cleverness. Maybe this won't be so bad after all. "I'll be upstairs, there is coffee on too. Mugs are in the cupboard above the machine, enjoy." He nodded his thanks and opted to keep quiet. Fine by me, I thought. It was time to get back to some normalcy around here anyway.

Getting my coffee I jogged up the stairs and went to my room with the intent to play the night away on the computer. Too bad all I could think about was the strange man named Gunnar my mix of circumstance and poor choices ended up putting downstairs. I kept all my worries firmly locked away. Surely they would bother me when I tried to sleep like they had been every other night since all this started.


	3. Chapter 3

Thank you for your continual reviews and views, they make me happy!

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I did indeed play the computer well into the night, eventually forgetting about my house guest. There was a point where I had very distinctly felt watched, everything around me dark but the illumination from my monitor. I chided myself however, Gunnar was the equivalent of a wounded Rhino in a china shop. Under no circumstances would there be any way for him to get up those creaky ass stairs without alerting me unless I had a headset on, I reasoned. By the time I was in the process of turning off the computer, my eyes were burning and I had damn near become one with the matrix.

Rounding on my blanket covered queen sized bed I flung my shirt and kicked my pants off recklessly, keeping my undergarments on as an afterthought. Climbing into bed I grabbed one edge of the blankets and then rolled myself up into my lovingly labeled "taco" blanket style. I drifted off to sleep easily, only stirring at one point to register the bathroom light flick on before drifting back into darkness. By the time morning rolled around, my mind had worked back towards all the issues that were eating at me and all the fears that chewed at my guts. With no reluctance at that point, I roused from sleep and sprung up to toe my door shut and sort out a work outfit.

I got the whole bathroom and outfit routine out of the way before I ventured downstairs, keeping it quiet until I could see whether Gunnar was in bed or not from my position on the stairs. Nodding slightly to myself as I registered his outrageous snoring, how I hadn't noticed it prior to that moment I doubt I'd ever know. Fidgeting with the pocket of my work jeans I walked straight to the kitchen and set about making coffee- Gunnar having drank all of what I made yesterday by the look of it. The sound and smell of perking coffee pervaded the house as I grabbed a frying pan and sorted out some bacon and eggs. "On second thought, make that lots of bacon and eggs" I muttered, recalling that I never made dinner or even invited him to do anything other than drink my coffee. Whether he welcomed himself to eat or not, I had no idea.

Making myself a cup of coffee as I had a pan of eggs and a pan of bacon sizzling. I leaned on the small island in the center of the kitchen while sipping my coffee, vaguely registering that the snoring had ceased at some point. I took a quick glance over my shoulder towards both the entrance from the hall and the kitchen doorway as well, seeing no Gunnar I resumed cooking. In fairly short order I had the bacon and eggs sorted out onto two different plates. For my own personal entertainment I arranged his to be a smiley face before grabbing both plates and walking into the dining room to put them on the table. I figured he'd eventually get around to it if he was slow to rise.

Going back to grab my coffee real quick I looked towards the living room before sitting down with my back facing it. The bed creaked and I chirped "morning", there was no way he wasn't awake with all these awesome smells floating around, that was an impossibility. Knowing he was awake didn't keep me from nearly inhaling my coffee when his hand clapped onto my shoulder, however. Letting out a choking sound and taking a few seconds to recover while he chuckled, I whispered hoarsely "Jerk." Taking my weak insult in stride he gave my shoulder a squeeze and went to sit down across from me "You're all dolled up, where are you going?" I smirked at his idea of dolled up, it was jeans and a full sleeve jogging shirt.

"I have taken a full week off of work, it is time for me to get back into the swing of things." I sipped my coffee, taking my time to look him over unashamedly. He was pretty damn built, my mind recalled the blade at my neck and his bold statement. I didn't have any doubts as to whether it was true or not. "I will give you my spare key, please don't lose it, host a house party or what-have-you." making a vague gesture with my hand as I focused on the tattoos he had.

"What do you do?" He intoned curiously, taking a bite of bacon and chewing as I looked back up to hold his gaze. "I kill people for a living." He paused, giving me a confused look before I smiled broadly and shook my head "I'm a construction worker, basically." I finally noticed the sheen of sweat covering him, quirking a brow as he considered my statement. "You aren't looking too hot. How bad of a drug problem do you have exactly?" he had sliced up and eaten an entire egg before deciding to actually answer me. Which was fine, I was content to finish off my coffee and work on my breakfast too.

"Bit abrupt, no? All the same, I won't be using again." His expression changed to what I felt was a sincere apologetic look before he continued "Drugs were the reason that night turned out the way it did, and I'm sorry for that." I rested my hands on the table, swallowing my last chunk of bacon while looking at him and considering. "If you need help in some way that I can provide, you have my full support. I have a vested interest in helping you recover from both of your unfortunate injuries." I licked my lips, maybe that wasn't the best choice of words, but I stood by them all the same.

"Do you now?" It had a bit of acid in it, I felt. So he didn't quite take it the way I meant him to, that's alright. Making a small defensive gesture with my hands, I shook my head "You still saved me from something horrible, possibly my life. You are in a way a hero to me. I have no desire to see a hero suffer, understand?" He nodded his understanding then, shaking his head slightly. I figured he didn't feel like a hero, but it didn't matter to me either way.

I procured the second house key and gave it to him before I left, hoping my house was going to remain in one piece in my absence. Work would be good for me, therapeutic even, being able to see what you've done with something to make it better was always a feel good exercise for me. By the time I got back home it was dark outside and I was continually checking myself to keep from stumbling as I fumbled with the door keys. A week off didn't do any good for my muscles and the day had been more arduous than it normally would be, but I only had myself to blame for that particular hardship.

Stepping back into my sanctuary I was kicking my boots off and wiping my dirt smudged face with my equally dirty shirt sleeve, imagining all the ways I was going to make love to my bathtub, until it hit me. The house was dark and silent, not what I actually expected. Looking down I saw Gunnars shoes were gone and gave a little shrug for myself, time will tell if he actually needed to come back to my home or not. I slogged upstairs and set about making a heavenly bath, of which I ended up soaking in for well over an hour if I had to guess. After drying off I tossed some baggy kickin' around clothing and shuffled downstairs lazily, coming to stand in the empty living room.

Stripping the bed of sheets and blankets I piled them up to the side and folded the bed away so I could watch TV comfortably, my thoughts circling back to my guest and wondering what he was doing right now and whether he really was going to stop doing drugs or not. The thought concerned me more than it should; whether the guy gets his act straight and quits using or not shouldn't matter to me, should it? He killed people for a living for crying out loud, it's not like it would improve his character or redeem him in some way. The TV show I had picked out was really just background noise to my thoughts at this point; I would continue debating over Gunnar with myself for the entire evening.

By the time I tiredly curled into bed after a small plate of dinner I had expected to not see him again. During my sleep I vaguely heard the roar of a particularly loud motorcycle going down the street, not enough to wake me but enough to send a pang of annoyance through me, god knows what hour of the am it was. It wasn't until morning when I was stumbling down the stairs in my damp kickin' around clothes, toweling my hair furiously that I realized I wasn't alone again. My feet collided with Gunnars shoes and as I disentangled myself from them to step in front of the living room doorway I pulled the towel from my head, rested it around my shoulders and peered in.

The bed was out and the old blankets and sheet were strewn across it haphazardly, but no Gunnar. As the rest of my senses came back to me I noted there was a sizzling sound accompanied by a familiar smell wafting through the house. Withdrawing from the living room doorway I looked straight down the hall, striding forwards with rising excitement as the clap of my bare feet against the wooden floor mixed with the sizzling of breakfast. Sticking my head through the doorway I beheld Gunnar flipping a pancake and blinked, I knew he was doing it already before I saw it, but seeing a man like that in a mundane situation was what I would consider a strange sight.

"Good morning... Pancakes?!" My excitement for an old breakfast favorite leaked through as I stepped up to the island and looked at the plate of pancakes already made, they were cut and folded in a way I wasn't familiar. "Swedish pancakes, actually." He chirped, the tone of his voice indicating a previously unseen cheery mood. Given it looked like he was a proficient cook, I decided I wanted to see him cheery more often.

"So you're actually Swedish, or just enjoy the cuisine?" I reached forward with the intent on stealing one of the slices and yelped as my hand was slapped by the hot spatula in a quick motion I certainly did not expect "Ah!" holding my hand to myself I frowned and watched him as he continued cooking nonchalantly, turning the stove off and chuckling "Yes, Swedish." My stomach grumbled impatiently and I decided to make the coffee while waiting since I wasn't allowed to eat before he was done, it seemed. Curling my fingers through my damp locks idly as I poured the water and listened to him separating the last pancake from the pan and arranging it in his fancy way.

Rubbing sleep from my eyes I finished getting the coffee pot ready and flicked it on, shuffling into the dining room and sitting in my chair. I watched as shortly after he came walking out of the kitchen and placed two neatly arranged plates of the pancakes onto the small table and sat down. He had on the same style of white sleeveless shirt that he wore the night I first met him, and from the range of movement with his injured shoulder I gathered he was feeling markedly better. "Thank you, they smell great!" I smiled, quickly gathering one up and taking a joyous bite. It was everything I could hope for in a pancake and I began to dig in happily while he ate notably slower and watched me.

"You're welcome. Figured I owed you something for all of this, and since my skill set is pretty limited.. Well, you don't need someone taken care of, do you?" He smirked and I chuckled mirthfully, shaking my head quickly. "No, no. My co-workers may be ass-hats, but it is a tolerable kind of stupidity. I appreciate the breakfast, haven't had pancakes in ages. But if you don't mind me happening to notice.. You seem rather cheery, something good happen?" I smiled and tilted my head slightly in inquiry, one cheek stuffed full of pancakes.

"Met up with some friends last night and had a good time, shoulder is feeling a bit better too. Probably won't need the bandages for much longer." Slurping from my coffee I nodded while he continued eating, swallowing before picking up my end of the conversation "I am glad you have friends, and that is pretty good news about your shoulder! Make sure you do some kind of exercise with it so your muscles don't deteriorate. Then again, maybe you should actually ask a doctor if that is what you need to do. I've only torn muscles before, hehe." I mulled over the conversation as we fell into companionable silence, the food soon gone.

Leaning back in the chair and combing my fingers through my drying hair I let off a content sigh and looked at him, thinking. He also leaned back and seemed to pick up on my thoughtful reflection. "Somethin' else on your mind?" nodding slightly in response I chuckled "I'm too transparent. Yes, I'm thinking about the days ahead I guess. How long you may be here, what you plan on doing, what I'm going to do to work around this. Things of that nature." Curling a lock of hair around my fingertips I held it and waited, curious for his response.

Scratching his stubble thoughtfully, he finally gave a little shrug and rested his hands on the table, rubbing at the old wood idly. "Well for starters I'll pitch in with the bills since I'm consuming your food and whatnot, that is no issue." I nodded, watching him intently as I listened "I could leave any time really. I can ride my motorcycle again and dress myself without much issue." He smirked "But I don't mind staying and giving you a hand until I'm healed up and called off to the job, either. Maybe I could help you at your job, could be interesting." he shrugged his good shoulder briefly "Up to you. As for what you do yourself? Well, that is in your hands."

Letting my lock of hair fall I clapped my hands together and crunched my knuckles, smile slowly curling onto my thin lips. "Honestly that all sounds very agreeable to me. I wouldn't be able to actually bring you to my legitimate job, but I do have side jobs that I do while waiting for the company to send me to new places. You could help me with those easily enough, only need one arm to carry around a ladder or hold something anyway. Maybe you could broaden your skill set a bit." I winked and smirked, earning a chuckle from him. "As for bills? So long as I can afford to pay the bills and eat it's all good. Maybe just buy your own food, I don't know what you like anyway."

"Sounds like we have a plan then." He held his hand over the table and I grasped it for a quick shake and a bright smile. "We do. Now that the long term is sorted out, is there anything you need to do today? I finished my job yesterday and am in that in between space right now, my day is free." Sliding my chair back and standing up as I spoke to him, I pulled the towel off my shoulders and started curling it up in my hands idly. I watched his eye narrow slightly for a second as my hand gesture caught his attention. "Familiar with fighting?"

Tilting my head I mimicked his gesture and narrowed an eye slightly "Not particularly. Wrestling in high school." For some unknown reason he grinned broadly then and laughed "I know someone who you'd get along with." I couldn't help but smile back at his questionable mirth and chuckle too. Shaking his head as he stood up and slid the chair in, he gave a little shrug. "I don't have anything planned. Guess I could pick up some clothes." Giving the towel in my hands a thoughtful squeeze I looked up at the old ceiling for a moment before looking back at him "Have some kind of work clothing? You'll want some steel toed shoes at least."

I was surprised at his nod of confirmation, quirking a brow. "Yeah, got some steel toes." His smirk I felt was a bit sinister, a reminder of his background. The silence that fell between us was not particularly comfortable. Instead of dispelling it I nodded a little bit and took off at a brisk walk back upstairs to finish off dressing and sort my hair out, hearing the clanking of plates and my coffee cup as I jogged up the stairs.

By the time I came back down I was dressed in a red long sleeve shirt, comfortable blue jeans, had my hair down and thoroughly brushed. Gunnar was outside sitting on what I would describe to be a beautiful motorcycle, giving me a moments pause before locking the house up and strolling over to him with a smile. "Well, let no one say you don't have some degree of style. Very nice." I knew that was the right thing to say, his smile was all I needed to know that the vehicle was his baby. "Lead on." He nodded at me and started up the motorcycle with a pleasing roar. With no small amount of jealousy I crammed myself into my now decidedly crappier car and listened to it putter to life before planning out the day ahead.


	4. Chapter 4

Sorry for the delay in posting! I planned to work on this every Friday to Sunday, just so you have an idea of when updates will come around. Things are going to start ramping up from here on out, make no mistake!

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I pulled out of my parking spot as Gunnar roared past on his motorcycle, wondering if he really needed my hand getting that shirt off the other night considering the stretch he was doing with the handlebars. The thought left me smirking smugly as I followed him further into the city and its older housing areas. We ended up in an area that was decidedly run down and unfriendly looking, Gunnar pulling up to a garage style door and stepping off the motorcycle to tap in a code on the security pad before striding inside as it rose up.

Assuming that to be my signal to stop here I pulled up in front of the garage and parked beside the curb. Stepping out and locking up the vehicle I quickly jogged in past the sliding door, pausing to watch it slide down with an odd finality. I was left standing in utter darkness and looked around worriedly for a minute before calling out "Gunnar? Some light perhaps?"

There was a grunt of assent and heavy footsteps echoing around me for a short time before I heard an industrial style switch being pulled into place, the overhead lights coming on and revealing a surprising sight. It really was like a low ceiling warehouse, but it had been refurbished into a living space. Smiling at the thought I looked over the old couch shoved up against a wall in front of a tiny TV which sat on an old bucket.

Off in the far end of the warehouse where Gunnar had stomped off to after turning on the lights was a walled in area that I assumed was his bedroom, maybe the washroom too as I didn't see any other place for one. There was a pool table, a small bar setup and a circular table with one chair sitting next too a mini fridge.

At the opposite far corner across from his bedroom was a lift going up to the next floor which left me curious. There really was no indication of Gunnar's profession here, maybe it was for the best I didn't see anything. Did I really want to get associated with that? "You already have." My inner voice reminded me, to which I frowned slightly.

During my period of inspection Gunnar had been busy. He came out of his room with a large black duffel bag that appeared to be stuffed and a black pair of heavy looking boots. Tossing the duffel bag over his good shoulder and holding the boots by their joined together strings while looking at me expectantly. Seeing his pause as my queue I intoned good naturedly "I was just thinking to myself this is a lovely man cave you have here. Want that in the car?" Pointing at his duffel bag briefly before he nodded in confirmation "Sure. And of course it is."

Stumbling backwards as I caught the bag, arms wrapping around it before I rebalanced and shouldered it, seeing him smirking at my struggle I smirked in return. "Bit heavy for just clothing I think." I gave it a small heft to punctuate my statement and received no forthcoming answer in response. "Get the light would you?" Shrugging at him in response I strode over to the light switch as he tapped at the keypad, getting the sliding door open again.

I had to put some muscle into switching the lights off, feeling a little more emasculated by the moment. As the building fell into darkness again I moved towards the light outside, brushing past Gunnar quickly and getting his duffel bag into my trunk. Closing the trunk door I proceeded to lean on it and look at him as he sat down on his motorcycle, pondering. "Hungry?" It didn't take him long to think about it before responding with a decidedly smart-ass tone "Yeah, lets get back to your place so you can make something for me." I raised my eyebrows and gave him an incredulous look "Look here, Swedish Chef, I ain't your maid... But you're lucky I just want some spaghetti anyway."

His laugh gave me a smile and a laugh of my own before I shook my head and got back into my car, quickly taking us back home. I admit I took the scenic route back, enjoying the air flowing through my windows, the music from the radio and watching Gunnar in the rear view mirrors. As we finally pulled up to my house however, the tranquility was shattered, just like my front door. Gunnar was at my car door before I had even turned it off, tapping the door slightly to get my attention. "Open the trunk, quickly."

The tone of his voice brought my thoughts back to reality and I felt the rise of adrenaline bringing my mind into sharp focus on the situation at hand. Popping the trunk I stepped out and watched him open up his duffel bag, quickly pulling out a hand gun and his huge knife, the holster and sheath he each clipped to his belt before striding towards the house. I stood by the car, not sure what to do and if I had to admit to myself, afraid too.

Remaining beside the trunk of my car I was only able to watch him for a few moments as he stepped into the house and, with gun drawn, step out of sight as he went upstairs. A few minutes passed before I gathered my nerve and slowly crept into the house myself, straining to hear any indication something had gone wrong, it was far too long to spend just upstairs as far as I was concerned. Grinding my teeth every time I heard the stairs creak angrily as I walked up them, I partially crouched and took a tentative peek into the hallway before freezing up.

I could see Gunnar's foot sticking out of the doorway, indicating he was prone on the floor and I couldn't see anything else. Before I could rationally approach the situation I leaped into action and sprung up the stairs with a sharp panicked whisper "Gunnar!" Stumbling into the doorway I almost didn't register the butt of a rifle coming at my head before it made solid contact, leaving me falling down on top of Gunnar's body equally unconscious.

"Easier than I expected really." Ed looked at the nurse and grinned, to which she gave him a bored look and gestured down at the two prone figures. "Get moving, boss needs them in place and I want them in a more controllable position when they come to." He huffed and started the process of dragging Gunnar by his ankles down the stairs while I laid on top of him.

I was laughing and elbowing Gunnar as we played Call of Duty on my x box. "Gotcha!" I wiggled in victory after stabbing his character in the back and t bagging him a couple times for extra effect. His lack of response caught my attention and I turned my head to look at him, seeing the face I saw that night when he looked at me after kicking the snot out of that little gang leader, it was disturbing. "It's not like that in reality." He intoned gravely.

"I know, it's just a game. Take it easy." My confusion mixed with fear gave way to a sort of pained disorientation as I heard him whisper "No, it's not." the scene falling away from me as I found myself staring into my eyelids and my whole body throbbing in pain. Letting out a throaty gasp I physically jerked as the memory of my home and the brief image of the rifle butt coming at my face came back in a flash, forcing my eyes open to face whatever it was that awaited me next.

I only managed to open my left eye a crack, my right eye felt swollen shut and the effort of attempting to open it left pain shooting across that side of my skull too. Taking a slow breath I forced my left eye open and looked around. I was on my knees with my face on the floor, ankles and hands heavily chained. To my relief I slowly turned my head and saw Gunnar almost directly beside me, but already conscious and with much shorter chains by the look of it.

He looked apologetic, but remained quiet for the time being. Lifting my leaden arms I slowly pushed myself up and crawled back to the wall, stretching my heavily bruised legs out in front of me and leaning against the wall, closing my sore eyes. "We were both knocked out in the house and I did not see who did it. I should have known better when I saw your foot, so stupid." My mouth tried twisting into a frown but I was just too tired.

It only took a few minutes of deep self loathing before I turned my head to look at him again, surveying his own physical status. He had a bruise near his right temple too, lucky for him it didn't get his eye by the look of it. "You alright?" I knew the answer but I felt the need to ask anyways, if only to break the oppressive silence. "Wonderful" He grumbled sarcastically, looking back at me and frowning.

Sighing I reached up and touched my swollen face gingerly, quickly regretting the move and taking in a sharp breath and removing my fingertips immediately. "Great" I mumbled, my voice gravelly from lack of use. I was left wondering how long we had been there as I looked over the room itself.

There was one dim imbedded light in the ceiling, each wall was concrete and so was the floor. A drain in the center of the room drew my attention, the floor was gently sloped in its direction so that liquid would flow into it. The dark stains worn into the cement around the drain also made me wonder, my gut clenching in worry.

"Any idea how long we have been here?" I mumbled, resting my head against the wall and tilting to look in his direction, my neck too tired to hold my head up. "No, only been awake for a few hours." He looked back to me from his own inspection of the room and gave me a serious look "Come here." Sighing, I ground my teeth and slowly made my way to him, closing the few feet between us on my hands and feet until I crawled under his lifted arm and wedged myself to his side, my left foot and hand pulled across to my right side as I met the end of the chains.

His arm resting on my shoulder was a painful comfort, but I didn't mind, it made me feel better. His hand gently tilted my head so he could take a look at my face, to which I gave a wince and a slight jerk away from his fingertips with each poke. "I'm like a bruised apple, take it easy." at the thought of my bruises I let out a little gasp, lifting my hand quickly and looking at my bruise covered arm. "the bruises, of course!"

He was surely giving me a confused look as his hand slipped down and rested on my thigh while I poked at the bruise on my arm, thinking deeply. "Yellowish, it has been around 24 hours, maybe longer. Coloring of bruises changes as they form and heal, you see?" I pointed at the sickly yellow surrounding the bruise that covered most of my forearm. To which he let out a soft chuckle "Smart, but how come mine are green?"

I looked at his own bruised up arm and considered it for a moment "Everyone is different, but I know my own healing process, I get bruised often." Sighing and leaning into him for warmth I let my arms rest on my legs and closed my eyes. "Well, we're waiting all the same." he muttered and I nodded slightly in response.

At some point I drifted into an uncomfortable sleep, switching between consciousness and the pain relief of slumber frequently. This continued until I was lured awake by the sharp grinding of rusty hinges and steel scraping against the concrete floor. Blinking slightly I straightened and felt Gunnar give me a reassuring squeeze on my shoulder before hearing a familiar feminine voice.

"You know, normally only people with actual proof of their relationship to the patient get to see the patient. I knew you were just an average civilian when you didn't catch that. So, Gunnar, how do you feel now that your friend here is as neck deep in shit as you?" her tone just oozed smugness and I felt a deep loathing, partially at myself for already knowing that situation was too easy to begin with, civilian or not. "Honestly? You should have kept this professional, because now it's personal." His tone of voice was completely sober and serious, it was both touching and unnerving to me.

"Two out of three people in this room are chained to a wall, and just in case you got hit a little too hard- I ain't one of the chained ones. You had best be open to what my boss has to give you Gunnar, or the situation in this room will change dramatically, I promise." Her snide tone annoyed me, raising my head to look at her through my eye, I smirked "It's personal for me too, bitch." Looking at her now I saw the nurse that had lead me around, but dressed in a sharp black business outfit and with her dark hair in a tight bun. I was a bit slow on the uptake and didn't register the sharp slap she gave me until I blinked again, my face planted into Gunnar's shoulder.

"I hope he doesn't cooperate, I look forward to seeing you suffer you mud slogging cretin." I chuffed at her, that was about all I had the energy for at that point. Satisfied the both of us had nothing more to say to her she sauntered out, heels tapping against the pavement sharply each step of the way. As the door closed I felt Gunnar's fingers sliding through my hair and pulling it out of my face slowly, I could feel his frown hitting the side of my face without even looking at him. "You shouldn't have done that. They might have even let you go."

"Heh, yeah right Gunnar. Believe it or not I have accepted that I was most likely going to get tangled up in shit at some point or another for associating with you, I've been at peace with that for a while. If I wasn't, I wouldn't have come to the hospital that day."

Feeling his hand stop in my hair, it felt like he was waiting expectantly. Always willing to please, I continued while closing and resting my eyes. "Speaking of being embroiled in shit. They weren't expecting me at the hospital, so you gotta ask yourself, who were they waiting for? I bet they have been following you and me since the day you left there." Curling my legs up I waited for his response patiently as he finished combing my hair with his fingers, bringing his forearm across my collar bone and resting his hand on my opposite shoulder, drumming his fingertips on me in contemplation.

"I have a few ideas of what they were really looking for, yeah." He finally intoned after some minutes of thoughtful silence. "And they will find them, not the way they expected to though. My bike has a tracking device in it and when I don't show up for our meeting, they will come looking and pick up our trail. Just a matter of surviving in the meantime."

While I was pleased to know that Gunnar had friends who would come for us, I was left cringing as his sentence came to an end. My attempt to reach across and get closer to him was jerked to a halt by the chains on my wrists, leaving me lowing my hand back down to my leg with a sigh. "I'll survive, just don't do anything stupid." I felt silly as I said it, between him and me I was sure both of us knew who would be the first to do something stupid if put in a stressful situation. "And I'll do my best not to as well." I added as an afterthought, earning a chuckle.

We sat there in deep silence, which my stomach started to fill with angry grumbling. Sighing, I took it upon myself to start up the conversation again, since he was intent on being the strong silent type through this it seemed. "Why did you follow me the night I first ran in to you?" He seemed a little caught of guard but recovered smoothly "I had enough drugs in me to kill an average person, it's a bit hazy. But I saw the guys following you after you ran."

Nodding slowly I smiled, licking my cracked lips as an afterthought. "Was good of you, even if you're a scary motherfucker." We both chuckled in good humor for a few moments before silence loomed again. "I wonder why they gave me so much more chain than you." I looked down at my shackled wrists through my one partially opened eye as he remarked "You're not a threat." I could feel his smirk without even needing to see it, his voice oozed a kind of smug satisfaction that left me feeling emasculated if I had to be truthful about it.

"Thanks, jerk. Maybe I'll make them regret it." My fingertips rubbed at the thick chain links thoughtfully. To which he replied, giving my shoulder a small squeeze "Even if you could, it is important to not agitate them. We're playing a waiting game and the more time we're given the better. You have no idea how many of them there are, what weapons they have, or even where we are. Breaking free from the room just puts you in another level of trouble." I smiled, another puzzle piece falling into place.

"So that is why you didn't grab her and break her lousy neck when she came close enough to slap me. You've got more patience than me, I'll give you that." I felt him nodding slightly in confirmation. "Worst mistake of her life, and I don't mean getting too close either. She'll pay for hitting you, among other things." I smiled, looking up at the ceiling thoughtfully "I know, because I'm gonna be the one makin' her pay."

Both of us fell silent as we heard a sharp voice behind the door, muffled but loud enough to understand "WILLY! Fucking move it!" Quirking a brow I listened curiously, but there was no more words, just the grinding of the door opening and possibly the biggest fat man I'd ever seen stepping through the door. I restrained myself from laughing, not only because that would really hurt, but because he had a bottle of water in his hand and a single paper plate of food I could not discern the identity of.

Free Willy, that is what I thought of as he lumbered over and with care placed the paper plate and bottle just slightly ahead of my feet, extra sure that Gunnar couldn't reach him or the food. With great restraint I tamped down my urge to laugh and quickly asked the man "Hey... Where do I go to the bathroom here, man?" He smirked at me meanly as he stood up and stepped back, gesturing to the drain in the middle of the floor, leaving me with an incredulous look as he stepped out and closed the door.

"Really? For christ sakes." Sighing I swatted Gunnar's hand off my shoulder so I could reach forwards to grab the plate of food and water bottle with no small amount of pain. Huffing from the exertion I plopped the plate in my lap and cracked open the water, taking a small sip and savoring it before looking at what the food actually was. "Potatoes... looks like green beans or something mashed up in them.. It'll do I guess."

Receiving a tap on my shoulder I looked up at Gunnar with a confused expression "I can't reach my own face, you'll have to feed me some." in a moment of levity I smirked and waggled my one eyebrow at him since I lacked control of the other "You're completely at my mercy?" He snorted and looked up at the door before looking back at me "I'll remember that."

"Please do." I said sweetly as I held the bottle up as far as I could towards his face, the chains limiting my reach so that he had to lean forwards too. It took a little bit of coordinating but after spilling some water on his face he finally got enough in his mouth to do for the time being. Putting the cap back on and setting it aside I sighed and looked at the food. "No fork or anything, well at least we have something to keep occupied with for the time being."


	5. Chapter 5

What is a story about action heroes without the action? Here we go!

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Barney was surprised when Gunnar didn't show up to the meeting, matter of fact everyone was. Since the first meeting after Vilena and the shooting incident everybody thought Gunnar was square and going to keep on the straight and narrow. Well, as straight and narrow as a mercenary gets anyway.

"I'm gonna go find em, you guys have a good night." Barney waved off his partners as he hopped on his motorcycle and got rolling. He'd find out real fast whether Gunnar was off the wagon again or not, and if he was there wouldn't be any coming back. At a red light he looked over the small tracking device monitor in his hand and adjusted his course accordingly.

It was curious, he'd never seen his companion go to this place before. Just a small middle to low income area with older buildings, it didn't seem like Gunnar's style. This sense of unease didn't leave him right up to the point of discovering the untouched motorcycle and the home with the broken down door.

Stepping past the old police tape he went through the house and discerned as much as he could from the mess. Gunnar was staying there, that much was apparent by the popped out couch and stack of two plates in the sink. Him and possibly whoever he was staying with were surprised upstairs judging by lack of struggle and the shoe drag marks straight from upstairs out the back door and off the porch.

After his brief detective work he sat on his bike and dialed up Tool. "Yes?" Tools usual answering voice responded. "Tool, we got a situation. Somethin' happened to Gunnar. I need you to rally the troops and get them to meet up on my position. Time is of the essence, we're at least a day behind." Astute as Tool was he made a noise of confirmation and hung up, already dialing up the other members no doubt.

Back in the cell which I had come to think of as home, this lack of natural light was seriously screwing with my sense of time. Gunnar had pointed out that was part of the reason why we were put in a room like this, to remove that sense of time and make it seem worse than it was. I didn't much like the answer either way.

The grinding of rusty hinges and the sharp scrape of steel on cement drew me from sleep much like it had before, except I could open both eyes now. I was sitting against the wall closer to my original position instead of up against Gunnar, mostly because he complained I was cutting off his arm circulation. Both of us looked at the gaunt man with short black hair as he stepped into the room, walking to the center and resting his arms behind his back as the door ground shut ponderously.

"Mister Shaw has sent me to give you his offer, Gunnar. I suggest you take a moment to think about it before rejecting it." I looked towards Gunnar silently as he gave the man a small nod to continue. His look seemed to be that of recognition, I had yet to decide whether that was a bad thing or not. "You will return to your ragged band of friends and you will kill each and every one of them. At that point in time you would be able to consider a small portion of your dept to Mister Shaw paid back." His cruel smile allowed me a good look at his rotting, nasty teeth which gave me cause to grimace.

Gunnar waited perhaps a minute or so, long enough for the man to start fidgeting in annoyance anyways, before his response. "You can tell Shaw to go fuck himself. I don't owe him anything." I wondered where the whole biding time and being patient idea went, especially as I heard the man unclipping something from his belt. "That is unfortunate, it seems you need a little motivation then. Mister Shaw, while disappointed, expresses his pleasure at your resistance I assure you." Swallowing at the dry lump in my throat I watched as he produced a neatly wrapped bundle from his belt and unrolled it on the floor. Rows of pointy rods were revealed, lots of them.

I wanted to keep my cool, but I knew that on top of looking beat down already that my eyes were becoming owlish and I was slowly pressing against the wall as I stood up, watching the man approach me with a carefully picked out rod. "I've never really been a piercing kind of girl, I hope you don't mind if I pass on this?" I held my hands up slightly in a defensive gesture as he came to stand in front of me and smirked "Shame, piercing is a specialty of mine you might say. And no, you don't really have the option to pass either."

Sparing a glance at Gunnar who had stood up as well and was glaring down at the man, but otherwise remained still and silent. I tried to mentally prepare myself for what was coming, but can you really do that, I wondered. There wasn't much time to think about it as I felt my leaden hand being grabbed and held up in front of my face so I had to either close my eyes or watch. Naturally I watched in horror as he touched the tip of the sharp rod to the web of skin between my index and middle finger and ever so slowly pressed it through.

To my credit I did not scream, but my mouth fell open and my hands were shaking uncontrollably. I couldn't yet discern whether I was in pain or so full of fury as to be struck dumb by it. The man had admired his handy work a moment, making sure to wave my hand at Gunnar for a second before letting it go and stepping back to get another rod. "Any second thoughts about the offer?" all he received was silence. "No? Suits me fine."

Still staring at the rod sticking through the flesh of my hand, I barely registered the man returning and placing a rod against the muscle of my shoulder. Only when he began to press it into my skin did I feel it then- not the pain but the white hot fury. Slowly lowering my hand I stared hard at the man then, feeling every tiny movement of the bar into my skin. He didn't seem to register my change of pace until it was too late.

Letting out a feral scream I sprung upwards and flung my chain around his neck, forcing him to spin around with his back to my chest. I pinned his arms to his sides with my legs and locked them in place around his waist while I firmly wrapped my chain around his neck and began to squeeze with all my might and leverage. He wasn't idle however, he let out a choked off yell as he fought against my grip, getting a hand slipped out from under my legs quickly and fighting to restore his air by struggling with the chain around his neck.

I was in a weak state and only the adrenaline was making this a more even match, but after what felt like forever the man finally got a clear yell for help out as he secured his airways, having freed up his other hand and holding the chain just off of his neck despite my crazed effort.

The door quickly slammed open and an armed man rushed in, pointing his gun at my face and yelling at me to let him go. Breathing heavily from the exertion of the struggle I slowly slid my legs down off of him. However, as he leaped forwards to get away from me I grabbed his ear and used his forward momentum along with a final burst of energy from myself to rip his ear clean off, his friend getting sprayed by blood.

Stumbling forwards the stabby psycho let out a high pitched squeal as his hand came up to the side of his head, the guy with the gun standing there dumbly for a second before registering what happened. Within a few moments the stabbing tools were grabbed from the floor and the guy was ushered out quickly, probably to get some medical treatment.

In the meantime I slowly slid down the wall, clenching the ear in my fist tightly and shaking like hell, the anger bleeding out of me as I slowly looked down. First as the ear in my fist and then at the spikes still sticking out of me, then over at Gunnar. It looked as though he was still trying to process what he just saw, until he finally let out a small snort, quickly devolving into joyous laughter.

My mouth hung open dumbly as I stared at him laughing his ass off at me. "That was great!" He proclaimed through his tears of laughter which slowly died off as I started to giggle like a lunatic, his mirth infectious despite my state. Letting out a choked laugh I murmured "Told you I'd make them pay for the long chains..."

As our collective mirth wore off I tossed the ear to the middle of the room disgustedly and crawled back over to Gunnar to get a hand with the bar sticking out of my shoulder while I took the one out of my hand. We decided not to give them any further reason to shoot us and tossed both of the spikes into the middle of the room by the ear. It didn't take too long for several armed men to burst back into the room and force me into a standing position, at which point I found my chains severely shortened so I could only stand still in that one place.

Despite my new shittier situation, I concluded it was worth the trouble. The look on their faces as they decided who was going to pick up the discarded ear was priceless. "Well, you gave them a message I suppose. You best hope that guy doesn't get to come back in here with his knives though." Sighing I looked over and down at Gunnar as he sat there "I know. But if I'm going to die, make no mistake I will not go down quietly."

Staring at him hard, he nodded somberly at me and I returned to closing my eyes and resting my face against the cool wall. It was only when I started to fall asleep and found myself dangling by my raw wrists that I let out a small sob and tried to sort through everything that had happened in the past few days, if only to keep my sanity in tact. "Hang in there." Was all Gunnar had to offer, but I accepted it as best I could since he was here too after all.

It was Yang who first picked up the cold trail. The whole group had basically moved into the house. Toll Road actually fixed the front door and cleaned up the police tape to make it look less suspicious while Barney, Caesar and Yang swept through the house and combed over everything available. Christmas had come and gone already, opting to wait by the storage facility where they kept all their gear so he could bring it on the fly if necessary.

Barney was going through the 37 messages on the answering machine with a terribly bored expression on his face as he listened to some woman's boss expressing worry, anger and finally apparently firing her for her mysterious absence. "Got some serious nerd up in here! Gunnar never struck me as a nerd type you know?" called Caesar from upstairs, to which Barney barked "Can it Caesar."

Yang stepped into the house from the back porch, holding up a dirtied newspaper and leaning on the kitchen island before calling out "Got something Barney." Laying the newspaper out across the small island he sharply pointed at a dirt smudged image as Barney stepped over from the phone in the hallway, coming around to look down at it with Yang. There was a concerned looking woman in casual clothing, hair back in a bun and a worried look on her face in front of the broken down door of this very house. Barney slammed the corner of the island with a fierce exclamation "Dammit Gunnar!" looking incredulously at the image of the biggest drug dealer in the cities right hand woman.

"Good work Yang, we know where to start now. But this just became a lot more time sensitive." Yang nodded quietly. Shaw was not a nice man, and that was before you owed him something. Toll Road and Caesar funneled into the kitchen and looked at the newspaper from afar "Well? Where to next?" Toll Road prodded.

"They wanted us to find this, we must be careful. Something else is going on here." Yang remarked, reading the actual words in the article before pausing to tap at the corner of a vehicle with a popped open trunk beside the familiar woman in the picture. "That vehicle belongs to the woman with Gunnar, this article says it was impounded. Trunk is open and looks like there was something in it, duffel bag?"

The three other men squinted down at the grainy image and all gave small shrugs "Good eye Yang, see if you can find it and get any further information. As for the rest of us, it's time to pay some of Shaw's associates a visit." Barney remarked darkly, nodding to each man in turn as they filed out with their orders before he too left. "That's what I'm talkin' about!" Caesar enthusiastically mashed his fists together as he filed down the hallway and out of the house.

Yang stopped by the storage facility to pick up his gear before the other men did, opting only to take the more silent tools of his trade. Night was falling and he planned on using it well to his advantage when he visited the impounding lot. "What are you doing Yang?" Christmas remarked curiously. "Ninja stuff, you stay here." was his perky reply.

Christmas hooked up with Barney, Caesar and Toll Road when they arrived and briefed him on what was going on. Barney strictly prohibited guns and explosives for the time being and everyone was left suiting up similarly to Yang for a change. Of course Christmas was all too happy to be limited to his knives, which in his opinion were not a limitation at all.

Barney laid out a map of the city and started isolating known hotspots for Shaw's minions while everyone dug out their rarely used zip ties and other disabling tools. "Phillip, that heroine pumped rat, hangs down here at the dock facility. I remember Gunnar said he could always ring some information or drugs out of him at will, we should start with him." Barney circled the small group of run down buildings by the waterfront and tapped it for emphasis.

"I want Caesar and Toll to hit up Phillip there, Christmas and I are going to go pay Miss Shila a visit. Contact me when you are done with Phillip or if something comes up, we'll do the same with Shila." Looking up from the map he observed each man, geared up as discreetly as possible and ready to go. "We'll find Gunnar come hell or high water." Each nodded, Toll and Caesar pairing up and leaving together while leaving Christmas and Barney alone with one another.

"You know, why are we doing this for Gunnar anyway? Guy tries to get all of us killed, almost does kill Yang, we take him back despite that and now this shit?" Christmas stared hard at Barney, it just didn't make sense to him. "Gunnar would do this for any one of us Christmas. We all agreed the past was the past and this was a fresh start for him, and he was cool with it too. His past biting him in the ass should be his own problem, I agree, but it looks like he is in over his head and all of us are willing to step up. Are you?"

They looked at one another sternly for a time before Christmas let off an aggravated sigh and tossed his hands up in surrender, walking towards his bike and grumbling "This better not bite us in the ass, Barney. That's all I'm saying." Barney let it be and followed him out, closing up the place before getting en route to Shilas penthouse.

There was only two security guards taking care of the entire impounding lot that night, which thankfully only had a couple rows of vehicles in it. He looked over the vehicles from afar with a small pair of night vision lenses, it took some time but he was finally able to identify the small car from the clipping. Maybe this will actually be a breeze for a change, he thought to himself as he snipped up the corner of a fence with wire cutters before pocketing them and slipping into the poorly lit lot.

Sidling up beside the car he peered into the windows from a crouched position before getting back to the trunk. Sparing a glance over at the security guards sitting comfortably within their building and chatting to one another he shook his head and pulled out the lock picking tools necessary to pop the trunk. As he carefully popped it open he took a quick look in with a small flashlight before letting the trunk actually rise up enough to grab the still open duffel bag and the tied together shoes which clearly belonged to the large swede.

Stuffing the shoes in the bag and shouldering it quickly, he lowered the trunk back down and closed it as quietly as possible. His quick duck to move back towards the cut open fence was the only thing that saved him from a knife that was thrown with such force it sunk into the metal of the old car. Eyes widening he immediately tossed the bag towards the fence and rolled up to another vehicle, snapping the night vision lenses on as he pulled out his knife and sought to identify his attackers as he rolled once more to avoid knives flying at him.

There were four that he saw, emerging from behind carefully chosen hiding spots that he would not have been able to see without much deeper inspection. It was a pretty good trap and he'd be sure to compliment them once he was done kicking their asses. Picking up one of the knives that didn't sink into the rubber of a tire or the metal of a vehicle he ran and dive rolled towards one man who was within take down range and tackled him onto the cement.

Thinking better of himself he discarded the knife and started viciously punching the man he pinned down who was fruitlessly trying to dislodge him while being as quiet as he could. Slamming the man's face into the side of the pavement to finally succeed in knocking him out with a satisfying crunching sound, he reeled around to locate the other attackers who surely had not been idle within those few moments.

Two had closed in on him, one hiding behind a truck and the other at the side of a car and aiming a knife at him while the third was out of sight. Grabbing the knife and hurling it with precision, the man who was aiming at him found his arm pinned to the car by his sleeve. Panicking and struggling to free his arm, Yang felt it was almost too easy to kick his head into the car to knock him out. A knife struck the meat of his shoulder before his mental sentence even concluded, bringing him back to attention harshly as he tried to bite back a surprised yell.

Stumbling around the car to shield himself as he yanked the knife out of his shoulder, he was further surprised when a heavy boot kicked him into the door with a hard thunk. The third man who had gotten out of his sight had finally shown himself and in that moment was following up the kick with a series of harsh punches that Yang was struggling to keep up with blocking from his prone position.

Finally he caught a break in the onslaught and swept out with his legs, knocking down the man and leaping onto him to deliver a fierce blow to the head that left him unconscious like his partner. Whirling around he caught the man not but a few feet away, already aiming with a knife. In that instant Yang took the knife from the prone man beneath him and hurled it into the knee of his final attacker.

The ungodly wail that he let loose startled the guards inside their cozy station and Yang heard them yelling while searching with their flashlights for the source of the continual yowling. Frustrated, Yang ran over to the man while crouching and kicked him in the head, silencing him briefly at least. To that end he decided it was time to get the hell out of there and ran to pick up the duffel bag and sneak out of the lot the way he came, no doubt leaving two very confused security guards.

As he sat down on his motorcycle a block away while listening to the distant sounds of sirens, he unclipped the small radio in his chest pocket while applying pressure to his shoulder with one hand as he spoke "Got the package. It was a trap, mind yourselves." Starting up his motorcycle, he only took off back to Tools when he heard the confirmation from the two teams. Hopefully the bag would have something in it that was worth the trouble.


	6. Chapter 6

Just a note on the current flow of the story: currently there are two teams, Toll + Caesar and Barney + Christmas, each doing a mission of their own. Time wise these are presented as happening at about the same time. Enjoy!

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Parking their motorcycles a good two blocks away from the waterfront, Caesar and Toll made their way towards the run down building Barney had indicated on the map. There was a distinct lack of any kind of motion or light that left the two with a building sense of unease as they crept into an open doorway and into the building. Left with no other option, they both turned on their small flashlights and felt through the dirty hallways, unable to avoid the crunching of glass and other miscellaneous debris under their feet.

"Don't take this as me assuming you can't read a map, Caesar... But are you sure this is the right place?" Toll mumbled as they rounded a graffiti coated corner, his voice might as well have been over a megaphone with the complete lack of other sound in the building. "Shut it Toll. This is the place, keep going." It wasn't too much longer before they stepped through a doorway, the entrance covered in shattered glass.

Toll was getting a couple zip-ties ready from his belt, Caesar following suit, as behind some large crates they could see one weak light bulb hanging down from the ceiling and illuminating the area. What made it worse was the weak, choked sob that escaped someone out of their line of sight when they had been unable to avoid the glass under their feet in the doorway. Caesar stepped up behind a crate carefully and motioned for Toll to take point, to which he complied quickly before relaxing his stance upon seeing what was ahead, gesturing for Caesar to come over.

Stepping from behind the crates they stood side by side and looked at the hunched and bloodied man tied down to the chair beneath the dim light. Glancing at one another they slowly approached his back, fanning out to either side of him until they were right there staring down. Unfortunately for the man who'd started back to consciousness and was now looking up at them frantically and squealing behind his bloodied gag, they were looking more pointedly at the bomb strapped to his chest and the seconds of time remaining on it. "Run!" Caesar exclaimed, Toll didn't need any other encouragement. The two of them booked it across the open warehouse floor and ran towards the crumbling wall that faced the bay.

Behind them the muffled screams of what had to be Phillip reached a fever pitch, his chair falling over right before the explosion went off. Crashing into the wall, together their combined force buckled the old bricks and with the help of the explosive encroaching ball of force behind them, launched themselves clear into the waterfront with a combined incoherent yell. All sound quickly dimmed as they were hurled into the water and were left to collect themselves, hopefully before the firemen and police arrived to extinguish the blaze and catch the cause of it.

Barney and Christmas were standing atop the two adjacent buildings of their targets house, small binoculars in hand as they looked it over. Both tensed as the voice of Toll and Caesar checked in through their ear buds "Phillip was a no-go, and is also bloody confetti. It was a trap, but we're safe and getting out of here." Barney frowned in thought before quietly responding "Confirmed. What do you see, Christmas?" from the other side of the penthouse Christmas looked at the patrols throughout the house thoughtfully, at least there was a lot of windows, but it was all very well lit too. "Fort Knox in there. Outside to the top or inside to the top it will be a fight. Shila is at the top, of course." Nodding even though Christmas couldn't actually see it, Barney muttered into his com "Same over here, you take the outside I'll take the inside. There's a balcony at the top on this side, come around to that and I'll take the ground level patio entrance."

"Are you sure? There are a lot of them in there, you're not so fast anymore.." Barney rolled his eyes impatiently "We've been over this. See you at the top." he knew Christmas was smirking like a smart ass when he responded "You will." With that out of the way, Barney went down the fire escape to the ground level and Christmas followed suit while looking over the outside of the penthouse for various hand holds, plotting his way up.

As Barney timed the visible patrols in the windows he found himself dashing across the exposed lawn and to the corner of the penthouse with the patio doorway right beside him. There he peeked in and looked at the group of armed men playing cards around a glass table, not even remotely aware of his presence. Resting his back against the wall he considered his options before looking around, identifying a metal bucket within reach and running the plan through his head as he grabbed it, readying a couple zip ties and placing them at his feet. He then proceeded to hurl the bucket onto the cement beside the large pool in front of the patio.

Naturally the racket produced by the metal bucket on the cement caused a stir inside the house. "Fuck sakes, Ron go check it out. Probably just a cat that got startled, take it easy guys." Barney had to thank whoever was looking out for him that idiots like this managed to get employed in such lines of work somehow. When a small armed man stepped out of the patio door it was a painfully easy work to grab him by the neck and yank him around the corner, silencing all struggle as he pinned him down and knocked him unconscious through the choke hold. He only had a few moments to zip tie his legs before the other men became curious and started making their way outside, calling for their lost comrade.

Christmas heard the crashing on the opposite side of the house and knew that to be Barney starting his apparently not subtle entrance. It did however afford him a window of time to get up to the wall as the patrols of the house shifted to the sound for a short period of time. Bracing his foot against the corner of a window he began the process of launching himself up the wall, grabbing onto windowsills and grasping at balcony edges and light fixtures, a modern day spider man.

He wasn't expecting the one man on the balcony he jumped up to and the sound of him being knocked out by a heavy foot kick felt all too loud to Christmas' ears. Thankfully he didn't hear any immediate response in the house and quickly zip tied the mans hands and legs behind his back, returning to the task of getting up to the last floor balcony above him. There was the subtle sounds of conflict in the house as he hung onto a window ledge, briefly surprised when the lights of the house went dark.

That got the remaining occupants of the house stirred up, he had to wait for several pairs of feet to rush by before climbing up into the window and making his last leap to Shila's balcony. Lifting himself up slowly he peered through the open doorway, but with the lights out and no other illumination to go off of, he couldn't see anything in there. Slowly lowering himself down into a crouch on the balcony, he pulled out his binoculars in a quick motion and looked into the house once more, now with night vision.

Barney leaped on a man who rounded a corner, gun at the ready. Disarming him and beating him to unconsciousness as hard and fast as he could, he zip tied the arms and legs like the others, unfortunately realizing he was now out of them. What he wouldn't do for Yang's skill at disabling people more efficiently in melee right now. With only one way up and the final floor above him, he was confident that all other men in the house were subdued in one way or another.

Creeping up the stairs with a restless energy that only comes from a life or death adrenaline high, he felt himself deflate as he took in the scene before him. The smug and smiling face of Christmas as he sat on a bed with Shila who was rather angry looking, and also with her hands bound. Taking a quick look around he noted that Christmas took care of all the guards that remained in the room, frowning a moment before bringing himself back to the present.

There was a purpose for being here, and he would be damned if this bitch didn't know where Gunnar was. Breathing deeply he gestured for Christmas to stand up with her, which he did with a firm jerk and a displeased noise from her. "You assholes are dead, do you hear me?" she whispered angrily, as if she were a wasp who's nest you just kicked. If they had to be honest with themselves that was a pretty good metaphor for what just happened, the wasp nest just got kicked.

Christmas gave her a jerk by the hair of her neck while Barney reached into his pocket for a stogy and a lighter. The flame of the lighter put each of their expressions in sharp relief for the few moments it was lit. Taking a slow drag to calm his nerves and with every intention of rattling hers, Barney exhaled in her face idly. "You know why we're here, Shila. You will be directing us to where Gunnar is, and there will be no lies." As he spoke he brought the hot edge of the cigar to the front of her face to punctuate his threat.

Shila wasn't a physical fighter, she was the face of her bosses operations, and she needed to keep that face unmarred. Fidgeting in Christmas' iron grasp while some small part of herself fretted over the mess he was making of her hair, she murmured "Fine. Whether Gunnar and his little whore are found, live or die, none of it is of interest to me." There was a meaningful exchange of glances between Barney and Christmas at the mention of an extra captive, must be the girl he was with then.

Taking another slow drag of the cigar, he gestured for her to continue. "We're all ears." At that point she all but eagerly spilled the beans. "They are actually in a facility two hours out of town, I can write the directions for you and give you the keys." Christmas' eye twitched slightly in response before Barney gestured for her to be let go. In a surprising act of cooperation, once her hands were unbound she really did only just reach for a paper and pen on her night stand and confidently wrote out the directions as detailed as possible for them, tossing the keys from her pocket to Barney as an afterthought.

Pocketing the information when handed it, Barney looked at her thoughtfully. "Why did your boss want Gunnar again, Shila? Their business was over a long time ago." Shila smirked, sitting on the edge of the bed and shrugging her statuesque shoulders slightly. "Boss has plans. You are right that I am the funnel through which most plans go, but I am not always privy to the nature of why a plan is in motion, or even the full details of it. That is all I have for you." Barney nodded and smirked "Pleasure doin' business." she didn't even make a sound when Christmas struck the back of her head, just fell to the bed unconscious.

Using up his last zip ties on her and tossing her to the middle of the bed without further thought, Christmas looked at Barney hard. "This is all too easy, consider what happened to Caesar and Toll before going right for Gunnar. We should meet up again and deliberate." Barney could only nod in agreement "Lets get outta here, no doubt some are conscious and trying to get free by now." With that, both men took to the balcony and raced each other down. Barney would later grudgingly admit Christmas won.

"You look like drowned rats." Barney remarked as he and Christmas looked over Caesar and Toll when they walked into the room. Each man was standing around the map they had looked over previously when they discussed their strategy. "Phillip had already been visited. He was roped to a chair and beaten to near death, and he also had a bomb strapped to his chest." Each man looked grim and tired. "Shila gave this information way too easily Barney. I trust that it is actually the real deal, but to hand you the keys too was far too eager, in my opinion."

Looking over the piece of paper with Shila's writing on it, Barney kept quiet as he wrote the directions down onto the map itself, circling the objective. "This place is nowhere near any residential areas, or civilization for that matter. I think we should bring our weapons." Toll spoke up, looking at each of them. "Going into what may be a heavily armed base with zip ties sounds a bit suicidal, even for us." There was nothing they could do but nod in agreement, the mission was becoming even more real.

Yang was sitting down and taping up the wound on his shoulder awkwardly before Caesar walked over and swatted his hand away, adjusting the bandage and redoing it properly. Wincing, Yang looked them all over thoughtfully before tossing his shirt back on and beginning to gear up, each man following suit. "Lay out the plan boss. I want to go home to my family." Barney let out a slow trail of smoke as he looked at Yang, frowning. "You don't have a damn family."

"Yes I do." Yang grumbled before standing up and grabbing the duffel bag he had fought for, placing it onto his previous seat and yanking it open. He had apparently waited for them all to get there before opening it, and so he found himself the brunt of some laughter when everyone got to see that it was really just a bunch of clothing. "Good job, Yang. Gunnar will be happy when you deliver him his clothing personally." Caesar clapped his hand on his shoulder. Yang's only response was smoldering silence.

Back in the cell, I felt like shit and my eyes were burning, couldn't even wipe my damn face. Gunnar's stoic attitude about the whole thing was annoying me more than it rightly should and every second of silence was making me angrier about this whole situation. Letting out a growl of frustration I started to jerk my hands around in my restraints, already slick with blood against my worn out wrists. "What are you doing?" he remarked, frowning over at me. Maybe he was just as annoyed as me at this point, but what did I know anyway?

I decided to not answer and let actions speak louder than words, so to speak. Focusing on one arm for now I sawed my wrist against the metal, tears pricking my eyes as it burned like no tomorrow. My blood oozed down my arm and smeared on my hand, at which point I started to fold my thumb in against my hand and pulling it towards me as hard as I could. Taking in quick shaky breaths as I focused intensely, pulling inwards and turning my wrist this way and that.

It was as big a surprise to me as it was to Gunnar when my hand slipped through the restraint with a wet squelch, barely catching the shackle in time before it smacked into the wall. I didn't catch the gesture, but I had the distinct feeling he rolled his eyes at me before remarking "Great, now what genius?" panting and shaking still, I glared at him while slowly reaching up to my face. My hand was bloody and grimy as hell, but it still felt like heaven to scrub at the crusty salt and sleep around my poor burning eyes.

With my gravelly voice I muttered to him "If you plan on being useless, fine. I'll be the one getting us out of here then!" He leaned towards me as best he could, making a threatening face. At this point he might as well have been covered in kittens for all the threat I felt from him, however. "We went over this, you're just going to get yourself killed. You aren't even their main target, killing you wouldn't even matter to them!" he grumbled heatedly, both of us trying to keep our voices down just in case there was a guard outside.

"In case you hadn't noticed they were already going to freaking kill me! And I already told you I'm not going down without a fight, so you can stuff it and I can leave you dangling there if you want, but I ain't staying!" all hyped up from our argument at this point, I turned away from him and began working at my right wrist, using the added strength of my other hand to help jam my thumb at the angle it needed to be to help my hand slide through the restraint. "Be a dumbass then." he grumbled, kind of like a petulant child if I had to compare it to anything.

As my now bloody right hand slipped out of the shackle with a wet squishy noise, I caught the shackle and let it rest against the wall, grasping my hands together for a minute to get my shaking under control. The ankle shackles were a different beast that I had only put a small amount of thought into at this point. Gunnar fumed silently as he watched me, I tried to chalk it up to jealousy that there was no way he'd be slipping out of restraints like this.

My back jerked up against the wall and my eyes opened wide, like a deer caught in headlights. The door was opening and there was nothing I could do within the scant few moments afforded me to get my hands back into those damn cuffs. Maybe Gunnar was right, maybe I should have just shut up and stood there. Doubts rendered me worthless as I stood there, cowering against the wall with my hands clenched together and my eyes staring hard at the door.


	7. Chapter 7

What luck, I was bitten by the writing bug today and kept on going right after I posted the last chapter. Enjoy!

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When I saw the face of my previous aggressor, my insides froze. He was handing off his pistol holster to the guard outside the door and looked at me grimly, clearly he already registered my hands were free and I hoped the damage I inflicted on him with them previously would deter him now. As he stepped in I was rewarded with seeing that the ear I had torn off had been stitched back on, the flesh around the tearing wound angry and red.

When he turned back towards me I felt the ice creeping throughout my body again. There was a look in his eye that I had seen before, not from him but others. A kind of grim determination to do horrible things, strange that I hadn't seen it in his eyes when he was stabbing me, but then again I had been rather delirious with fury at the time. This time around I knew there would be no fighting on my part. I was too tired between the lack of food and the energy I already spent getting out of the stupid shackles.

Maybe he registered the hopeless look on my face and it fed his motives, I didn't know. But he went from standing there at the now closed door to striding across the room, planting a hand around my neck and slamming me against the wall furiously. Vaguely I heard Gunnar standing up again, it felt odd that he cared after his previous proclamations. Struggling for breath and already seeing stars from my head banging into the wall, I gurgled "Please don't." To which he responded with a more vicious slam, throwing his body weight up against me to punctuate just how little my words were going to do for me at this point in time.

"Bitch, you think you were just going to get away with pulling my fucking ear off? You." Punctuating each word by poking my chest with his free hand harshly "Were. Wrong." When I tried to raise my hands up he slammed me again and slapped them down. Tired and losing my ability to care about my situation, I let my arms dangle at my sides and returned his look blankly. It was only when his free hand came to the neck of my shirt, a finger curling into it slowly, that I started to understand where he was going with this.

His smile was both happy and cruel, his breath so disgusting I thought I could taste it when he breathed on me. "Boss says you aren't needed, just a loose end. I was so pleased when I convinced him to let me kill you whatever way I wanted." My breathing went ragged, already partially restricted by the hand around my neck. He was keeping me in that light headed zone just before unconsciousness, just enough oxygen to stay awake and not enough to operate coherently.

I didn't think it was possible to loathe someone as deeply as I did this man within that moment. The emotion was dark and oozing, like the blood that had dried up on my wrists and hands. His free hand curled up in the front of my shirt and ripped the front clean off, earning a choked sob from me. I couldn't even hear Gunnar, I wondered if he pitied me or was trying to help somehow, I guess it didn't matter.

He put his body up against mine and started to lick the base of my neck, giving it a hard bite and eliciting a pained noise from me. He left my bra on, I don't know why but I was thankful for the small blessing at that point. When he was done licking and biting down to my stomach he gripped the edge of my pants tight in the one hand, in response I tried to kick out but my feet were still bound and useless. He chuckled darkly and gave me another shove against the wall, taking his time and undoing the button and zipper of my jeans painfully slowly. "I don't have to kill you fast girl, you're going to suffer. And your friend is gonna watch, too."

It was when he let go of my neck and started to slide my pants off that I was about to wail in misery, but jerked in surprise as I was cut off by a gutteral cry. Within that moment I was pelted by small bits of cement and nearly knocked in the face by a heavy chain and the metal plate that was once keeping it into the wall, along with the two inch screws still stuck in it. The scumbag in front of me however did get hit by the chain and the plate, staggering back in surprise and grasping for his face in pain.

Gunnar yanked the chain back and tossed it again, looping it around the creep and managing to yank him right to him. At this point I was staring in a combination of relief and horror, the smaller man didn't stand a chance with no weapon and being too concerned about his precious face to register what was happening. He didn't even get to cry out, Gunnar pinned the guy to himself with his leg and wrapped the chain around his throat with a speed to be reckoned with.

With a grim satisfaction I listened to the crunch of the guys neck as Gunnar twisted the chain and squeezed with his one hand, the body going limp and being lowered to the ground quietly. It was a wonder that the guard outside had not been alerted, it all seemed so loud in the otherwise silent room, I had to give the old door some credit for saving our asses. My relief was cut short when I thought about what just happened, staring up at Gunnar with a twist in my gut.

He had been staring back at me, I don't know how long, but it was that look I saw him give me that night. Right then I knew it to be murder, a cold fury that he was somehow restraining. I also knew that I felt what it was like to experience it myself when I ripped the man's ear off, did I look like that when I did it? No matter what, I knew Gunnar pulled that look off much better than me either way, my shriveling insides were a testament.

But at the same time I slowly looked down from his face and to his free arm, the hole in the cement wall and the chain. Blinking for a few moments before whispering, I don't think I was capable of doing anything louder than that with all the neck squeezing I'd suffered, incredulity creeping into my tone. "You could do that at any time? Then how come you didn't do it when he was fucking stabbing me in the first place?!" Glaring back at him and clenching my fists furiously, I didn't actually expect him to respond.

He actually reached out to grab me and I leaped back, leaning away from the hand that could've easily caught me too. Hands braced against the wall, the only thing that kept me from falling over was the fact all my weight was on my left shackled ankle. The tone of his voice was chilling, if I had to compare, it was the voice of your more fearsome parent a few moments after you just had the gall to tell him to go fuck himself in a fit of teenage rage. Probably worse, actually.

"Because we were waiting to be rescued and you being poked by some knives was the smallest of shit they could have been doing to you, you dumb ass! You forced things to go this way and now we have to act when we're not prepared and alone! If we get out of here alive, I might just kill you myself." His voice lowered into a deadly whisper and I took what he said as the gospel truth, stunned into silence.

Looking away from him shamefully, I slowly crouched down and maneuvered my sore legs down into a squat, trying to work on my ankle shackles before realizing my pants were half off. Embarrassed, I pulled them back up to their appropriate resting place and did my button and zipper up quickly, sighing and running a filthy hand through my hair. I didn't jump this time, but I still silently marveled when he ripped the left chain out of the wall too even with the injured shoulder. He repeated that process until he was standing there stretching his limbs, chains dangling and laying everywhere.

Sighing, I gave up on the ankle shackle and sat there staring at the cooling corpse of someone who the world would be better for not having. I had to wonder about the thought that moment, when did I become comfortable with death? Not comfortable, I corrected myself, this was the farthest thing from comfortable I had ever been. This was simply justice, and no mercy would be afforded to someone like that, I reasoned to myself.

Gunnar's heavy steps and dragging chains broke me out of my revery as I looked up at him standing over me, still glaring. Crouching down slowly I winced as he grabbed my ankle chain, waiting for him to just wrap it around my neck and pop my damn head off, of course I knew that was a silly thought. Curious then, I watched not the plate that the chain was affixed to, but the muscles of his arms and how hard they flexed when he jerked the chain hard and ripped it from the wall, pulling my leg along slightly and eliciting a pained noise from me.

He held my foot in his hand for a second, looking down at me. As I blinked slowly he put my foot back down and repeated the process to the very last chain. I couldn't help but let out a groan of happiness as I forced myself to slowly stand up and stretch my tortured limbs. Still feeling that bite of shame, I murmured at him "Thank you. I'm sorry that I put us in this situation."

He took a minute to carefully wrap the chains around his legs so that they wouldn't shake loose easily, then repeated the process to me, all while not answering. It was not entirely uncomfortable to rest my hands on his shoulders as he wrapped up my sore legs, and I accepted that this was probably the best "I forgive you" that I was going to get out of him. When finished he stood up and walked towards the corpse, checking its pockets and giving it a frustrated kick when there was nothing.

Looking at the door nervously I shuffled towards him, my chains jingling and they clicked together. "The guard will get suspicious at some point, if he hasn't already. All we have to do is wait." Gunnar nodded, apparently his line of thought was similar. But I wasn't going to just state the obvious, I stepped away from him and stood in the center of the room, looking up at the light fixture thoughtfully.

So there I was, standing on Gunnar's shoulders as he kneeled in the center of the room. My sore eyes watered at having the light right in front of them, but I persisted. I had been trying to use my stumpy thumb nails to turn the screws keeping the cap over the light bulb's cover up with no success. Sighing in frustration, I heard him make a similar sound of annoyance beneath me, I didn't have much time left to make this happen one way or another.

As I looked down at him I also looked down over my bra and my otherwise completely exposed front, smiling as my idea hit me. Hopping off Gunnar quickly he started to speak "What-" before I cut him off with a sharp jerk of my hand. "Tear off the back of my shirt, don't ask questions just do it quickly." Turning away from him I held my arms out and was surprised when he complied so fast, his hand shoving my hair out of the way and grasping the back of my shirt threateningly. In the time it took me to gulp he ripped the back of my shirt clean off, leaving only the two bands of fabric that were my sleeves dangling on my arms.

Turning around I looked up into his confused expression as he held the cloth in his fist, I didn't give him time to think more about what I was doing though. I grasped the blood and dirt stained fabric and tugged it from his hand, gesturing back towards the light "Back down again real quick, c'mon." Dully he complied and let me climb back on his shoulders, my feet and toes curling in my shoes as if to grasp at him. Wrapping my chains around my fist, following up with the cloth, I looked down at him and murmured "Watch your eyes."

I waited for him to cover his eyes with one hand, the other braced on the ground. When he did I turned my head away and covered mine too, bashing my weighed down fist into the glass. As I anticipated the cloth dulled the sound and kept my fist in tact, for which I was thankful. The light itself was blazing hot and I had no other choice but to smash it too. "Ah! Arg!" I cried out, keeping my voice down as best I could when hot glass bits settled into my hair and burned like hell. Stumbling from my position I ended up sliding down Gunnar's back as I furiously shook my head and dislodged the bits of glass from my scalp.

The room was plunged into darkness and Gunnar had no idea what was wrong, I felt him shaking my shoulder and whispering to me urgently "Whats wrong?" shaking my head and letting out a sigh of relief as I felt through my hair and couldn't find any more burning shards of glass, whispering back "Had hot glass on my scalp, sorry... You hear that?" Both of us fell silent and listened to the unmistakable sound of the door being played with.

Keeping my startled exclamation to myself, I let Gunnar grasp the back of my neck and drag me to the wall behind the door. Gunnar kept closer to the door and pushed me away along the wall. I complied, he knew what he was doing and I certainly didn't. The door finally ground open a few inches, the hall light beyond illuminating a small line in the room. "Li? Say something Li." A nervous man called into the room, we both could see the edge of a gun poking around the corner too.

Seeing an opportunity I cupped my hands together and faced them towards the back of the room where we were supposed to be chained, letting out a choked sob. "He's here... Please.. Please help me.. He turned off the light and.. oh god, please help!" I cried weakly, falling silent as we then watched to see whether this worked or not. To my credit, it did indeed work.

Gun lowering out of sight, all I could visually gather about the man was that he was fairly average height and utterly foolish. He took a brisk stride into the room, confidence heightened by the upset prisoner calling to him. His spine crunching just like the other man was music to my ears, justice. Limp body tossed to the ground beside me, the sweetest dish of revenge. Gunnar ground the door mostly shut, leaving just a little bit free to be grabbed and opened if need be.

I felt him sidling up near me and attempted to cut him off before he rebuked me "A stupid idea that works is not stupid, just so you know." Thankfully he held back whatever it was he was going to say and I was rewarded with him just patting down the dead guard and relieving him of weaponry. "We can only do this for so long, we need to get mobile." He stated, maybe he felt more comfortable with the gun in hand.

Just like that we were creeping down hallways, avoiding patrols and using dark rooms to ambush single patrols. At one point Gunnar grabbed a handgun from the belt of another dead shmuck and held it out to me, quirking a brow as I stared at it, shaking my head. "Don't know how to use one, don't bother." Stepping up beside him as he took the ammo out of it and stuck it into the chains on his arm, I relieved the corpse of a knife and gripped it in my hand, this was something that I could work with.

There was a point where we reached a T shaped intersection of hallways and clearly heard at least two people talking down the long hallway to our right that we were forced to pause, but I had an idea. Unwrapping the chains around my legs quickly I had Gunnar take hold of the ends of each and follow along quietly. Running down my plan with him quickly he gave me a quirked brow but nodded, finally grinning evilly as he visualized it.

At first the guards heard me howling in terror and screaming as I "ran" up the small hallway, bursting around the corner and looking towards them. We both stared at each other in surprise before I fell to the floor, my chains jerked back. Gripping the corner I howled for help hysterically and kicked my feet to signal the guards were coming running. At which point I was promptly ripped away from the wall and dragged out of their sight, my screams being cut short. In reality I hid behind Gunnar and waited tensely for those sparse few seconds.

The two men had absolutely no idea what the hell was going on when they rounded that corner, but I knew the fear on their faces as they died, and in my heart I felt a pang of sympathy as Gunnar disabled and promptly killed them both.

They couldn't figure out what was going on in there. Patrols outside suddenly went running inside, lights were going off down hallways systematically, it was like chaos was erupting in the compound. "You know it's him doing that, we need to get in there." Yang remarked through their earpieces. Each member of the team was surrounding the complex, which looked like a well guarded business building in the middle of nowhere. "Wait, you see that shit?" Christmas' incredulous voice came over the com and each man looked around frantically with their binoculars trying to see what he saw.

Each teammate reported not seeing anything especially strange, leaving Barney frustrated. "Christmas, you're seeing shit. Meet all of you down at the service entrance, we'll fan out inside and be careful since something seems to be going down." They all met up at the service entrance and entered discreetly.

Inside they were greeted with the distant sound of alarms and scattered gunfire. "The hell is going on in here?" Toll remarked curiously. "We'll find out while we look for Gunnar I'm sure. Keep in mind some woman was also captured with him too." Christmas made a grumbling noise while the rest confirmed and split up into the hallways.

First they were in pairs of two but quickly found they needed to further split up to cover more ground quickly. Nodding to Caesar as he stalked off down one hall with windows to the outside along it. Christmas opted to go deeper inside down a hallway that had it's lights shot out. Stepping over the disarmed body of a guard, he eyed it skeptically before continuing.

A few hallways in, he decided to keep to the unlit ones that had seen some kind of action, he heard a shriek nearby and the clattering of something like chains. A woman with no shirt, a bra and filthy jeans on who was covered in blood came flying around the corner in front of him, immediately they both froze and stared at each other. Christmas was quicker on the draw however and leaped forward to grab her arm and yank her up against the wall around the corner "I knew I saw you! What the fuck is goin-"

"Ah!" she yelled as she was yanked clean out of his grasp and flipped around the corner roughly on her ass, dragged back by the chains that were wrapped around her legs. Blinking, Christmas furrowed his brows and readied his gun, counting a few seconds before leaping around the corner and taking aim at.. Gunnar! The relief on his face was visible as he lowered his gun and glared at Christmas "It's about damn time you guys got here!"

"Christ Gunnar, what the hell is going on and who is that? Never mind this whole screaming around the corner chain thing you've got going on here." He gestured incredulously at their attire. Before Gunnar could answer one lone guard charged through a doorway and yelled something, they didn't quite catch it as two knives buried into his chest and a round of bullets shredded him.

Looking back at each other as if nothing happened, they continued their conversation. "Had to stop waiting and make a move, thanks to her." Jerking his thumb back at me I frowned defensively at the two of them. "Well no offense but it looks like she was taking the brunt of your shit anyway." Christmas remarked in a smart ass tone, to which I nodded confirmation so Gunnar couldn't see me agreeing.


	8. Chapter 8

Hello again, Happy Holidays! Hope you're enjoying the story so far, I know I'm enjoying writing it at least. :) Speaking of Holidays, I'm not going to make any promises of this being updated again by Saturday/Sunday due to the hectic nature of this month, but I'm sure you understand. As always, thank you for your views/reviews/favorites/follows and on with the show!

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Christmas signaled to everyone else that he had found us. We were to meet up at the service entrance they initially entered, easy enough. I took a minute to get my chains wrapped up around my legs before we got going again.

Christmas took point and Gunnar was taking up the rear, keeping me in between the two just in case. There was only two times when we exchanged gunfire, thankfully my group apparently knew how to aim and was quicker on the draw. Resting before a corner, Christmas went to check it real quick, at which point I turned to Gunnar and whispered hoarsely "What is his name?" jerking my thumb in Christmas' direction.

"Lee Christmas." I jumped as Lee answered me, just a foot or so from my face. Whipping around I looked at him and then at the burly black man behind him, blinking owlishly. "And him?" Caesar only offered me a frown "There's a time and a place, neither of those are here and now." Swallowing, I nodded in agreement. My throat was sore as all hell anyway, never mind the rest of my body.

As our procession crept along and continued to take down the scattered defenders when they were unfortunate to show up, there was at one point a man who threw his gun to the ground, turned around and ran the hell away. We laughed quietly. We were joined by an Asian man who looked to be right about my height, and then by two more. When I looked at Barney, I couldn't help but feel like he was sad and tired, I kept that thought to myself mind you.

The last member of the group to join us was a very sturdy bald man with a built in frown, but I offered him a smile anyways. There was no way that they were not going to be receiving my gratitude when we got out of this. They didn't speak and I wasn't able to pick up any of the new group members names, but I'm a patient woman if nothing else. Soon we were out in the night air, the light of dawn beginning to illuminate the woods around us. This revelation urged us to a faster pace, leaving me stumbling and with bile rising into my throat.

We were jogging through the woods, I felt utterly lost in the unfamiliar territory but resolved to keep my faith in the group since they had done no wrong so far. My eyes were forcing themselves shut and I caught myself falling forwards several times before I actually did end up face first into the dirt, the chains on my legs felt like lead weights. But I had a sneaking suspicion my limbs would still feel the same even if they weren't there at this point.

To my surprise, even though I only vaguely registered the motion, it was the unnamed grumpy guy that ran back and picked me up. Tossing my arm over his shoulder and supporting the majority of my weight, he got me back moving again as I mumbled an apology. He ignored it and looked me over as we shuffled along. "Vehicle is just ahead. Damn, they really did a number to you huh?" I smiled tiredly in response and turned my head to look at him. He was the one steering us anyways, I didn't need to look ahead.

Taking in his features I idly revoked my statement that he looked grumpy, he was just focused, that's all. Resting my eyes, I was a bit surprised when he spoke again "I'm Toll Road by the way, guy with the big gun is Caesar and shorty is Yin Yang. Guy everyone takes orders from is Barney." I smiled, pleased that he filled me in, mumbling "Thank you."

I opened my eyes only when I felt my leg bump into metal, wincing. Looking up I saw our getaway vehicle and smiled, looked like some old military truck. Toll helped me get into the back with a little effort and I sat heavily onto the bench inside, looking over everyone else as they settled and took inventory of everything. Finally they started talking and I couldn't help but smile at their candor. Last thing I saw was Gunnar looking similarly exhausted but decidedly happy as he talked them through the events of the past few days, my mind drifting away and eyes shutting in sleep at some point.

I don't know how long I was out for, but when I woke up I was sitting on an old couch and the man I knew to be Yin Yang was holding up my sore leg and picking the lock of my shackle. He had already taken off the other one and I felt sweet relief when I moved the foot. Leaving him to what he was doing for the time being I took in my surroundings. It looked like some kind of warehouse staging area, these guys seemed to have a thing for them.

Looking back down to Yang when I heard the shackle opening up and felt the relief of less weight on my leg, he looked at me in return then. "Thank you, I'm Kayle." I stuck my hand out at him and was thankful that he gave it a quick shake "Yin Yang. Glad you're awake." Nodding slowly and smiling I sat up and grimaced at all the pain that shot through every muscle of my body, quick to realize I was still crusted with a mix of blood and dirt and sitting around in my bra too.

"Good to meet you. I guess I should probably get back to my house, don't want to be a burden or anything. There's no way I can express how grateful I am for the save back there." Yang nodded and walked off without another word, not exactly what I was expecting but I could deal with it. Standing up stiffly I idly rubbed at my sore wrists, wincing and stopping that as soon as I felt the tender scabs.

It wasn't until I heard the low rumble of voices and laughter in the direction Yang went that I felt a particularly strong pang of nervousness. In the end I still had no idea where I was and when I thought about it, just got dropped into Gunnar's world head first. It wasn't exactly what I wanted. Crossing my arms out of self consciousness and nervousness, I shuffled stiffly towards the voices.

This had to be where they suited up or whatever they wanted to call it, I had to smirk at my lack of ability to apply anything less than a nerd term to what these guys did. Coming around two large stacked crates I found myself looking at the whole group of them, each sitting on various sized crates and drinking a beverage of choice. Of course, they were all looking at me too.

Swallowing my nervousness, I made the first move. Stepping forwards and looking them over, I smiled slowly. "Hello, thanks to whoever tossed me on the couch and sorry about that." My voice felt small then, but my throat was so sore, I was pretty sure I shouldn't even be speaking. I had a moment before they gathered their own responses to think about why they weren't on any actual furniture.

Could it be they moved the couch over to where I was so I didn't have to wake up amongst all of them? Maybe, I wasn't going to sweat it either way. Barney piped up first "All good, surprised you're up at all considering how you look." shuffling towards them stiffly I gave a little shrug and a smile. "I'm tough, nothing to worry about." My eyes rested on Gunnar for a few seconds to look him over, he looked a bit better at least.

"Sorry for the inconvenience, but is there any way I can get back home? I honestly have no idea where we are and I'll be damned if I don't want a meal and a bubble bath at this point." Each of them chuckled and smirked, thankfully Barney nodded and gave me a real answer. "Yeah sure I'll give you a ride and loan you a jacket or something. But first, Gunnar won't tell us what your involvement with him is, so we're hoping you'll shed some light on that." He looked smug, especially when he looked over at Gunnar. All of them did actually, it left me smiling. "Of course."

At some point I was handed a beer and sat on the same crate as Yin Yang, since it was just about the right height for me too. I had explained how we first met, omitting a few pertinent details of course, it wasn't beyond me to notice Gunnar relaxed when I skimmed over the darker details involving him, I knew his reputation with his friends had a deep meaning then. "So I was reading the paper right, and I saw his ugly mug on it. For whatever reason I felt I owed it to him to visit him in the hospital." I received some encouraging nods as I paused and slurped my beer, the liquid had helped my voice immensely.

"When I managed to get up there and talk to him that smug bastard told me that I digged him! Can you believe it? Anyway, he surprises me by asking for a place to stay for a few days, but I accepted. He was only with me for two days before we were kidnapped, that is it. Bit anticlimactic, but there you have it." I dusted my hands off and looked them over, watching them digest the information with a few chuckles and pointed looks towards Gunnar who had been silent through the whole exchange.

"Found out in the cell that the woman who was the nurse at the hospital was actually Shaw's partner Shila, I would have known that had I gotten to actually see her but she's the one that let Kayle up there." He finally remarked, to which I nodded confirmation. Thoughtfully turning the beer in my hand for a minute before I looked up at them, my concern obvious in my tone. "So, Shaw is still out there. Shila is still out there. I can't even go home, can I?" by the end of it, despair had crept into my voice and I started to think about the many horrible possibilities that could be my future at this point.

"Shaw will be dealt with." Gunnar remarked darkly, leaving all the others nodding emphatically. Barney piped up "But in the meantime no, you should probably not go home. Sounds like an opportune time for Gunnar to extend the same courtesy you gave him, actually." He smirked thoughtfully as he puffed his cigar, all of us looking at Gunnar then who was frowning. "Yeah, that's fine." It kind of hurt to hear the grudging acceptance in his tone, but what could I do about it? Nothing.

"How did you guys find us anyways? Couldn't have been that easy." scrubbing my face with a dirty hand I looked towards each of them with my eyes half closed, I still felt tired. Caesar, who had been quiet most of the time, finally piped up. "Yang actually found the first sign of what happened, newspaper with Shila on it in front of your house." nodding slowly, I swished my swig of beer around in my throat a second before swallowing and remarking "So these problems with Shaw and Shila are not new. What happened next?"

Caesar explained their original plan to find us and described more in detail what happened to him and Toll when they went to find Phillip, Toll adding in his own point of view observations. "Getting out of there without the cops finding us was a bit of a trick." I nodded, rather awed at the effort they went through for their friend, I would be lying to myself if I thought for a second they would have done that just for me.

"No loss with Phillip gone, always was a sack of shit." Gunnar remarked darkly, nobody responded. Barney actually picked up where Caesar left off and launched into a fairly detailed explanation of how Lee and him got to Shila, I was left impressed by the feat and entertained by the dynamic between him and Lee. "Lost the bet like usual, too." Lee perked up when Barney finished explaining how they got away, to which Barney grunted in response.

"What about me huh?" Yang piped up defensively, all of us turning to look at him, I couldn't help but smile and bet to myself he had little man syndrome. "Well, you found the first clue, what else did you do?" I questioned curiously, leaving him frowning. "I found your car and Gunnar's bag." squinting slightly, I nodded and waited for him to continue.

"Found your car in the impound, went to get Gunnar's bag out of it and it was a trap." I frowned and nodded, listening "Almost got hit by some throwing knives when I found out there were people waiting for me, seven of them." by the way he said seven and looked at everyone, I figured he was stretching things, by the smirks on everyone else' face I had to be correct. "Very hard fight, barely made it. But I got the bag and didn't get caught by the security." He concluded smugly, giving his bandaged shoulder a small pat.

"Too bad all you did was get Gunnar's laundry." Toll remarked with a grin, everyone else including myself had a good laugh at poor Yang's expense while he frowned. "That's not funny." Grinning, even though the effort hurt, I made a nudging gesture at him "Sorry, but it definitely is." I received his frown full force and just kept smiling.

"Alright" Barney cut in as good natured bantering started to take over "Lets get going. I've already spent more of my off time with you than I wanted to." Everyone put their drinks down and said their goodbyes, even to me, I was surprised. Finally Gunnar came to stand with me and when he talked I realized he was no less tired than me, maybe more. "Alright, my bike is still at your house so I gotta get a ride there, tell me some essentials and I'll bring them since I'll be there. Barney knows my place and how to get in so you'll go there with him, just in case."

I vaguely registered what he was saying, but if I had to be honest I was looking at the dark bags under his eyes and glancing at his injured shoulder, wondering if he did any permanent damage to it. Leaving me mumbling "Yeah, right. Okay, got something I can write a list on?" he shook his head and smirked "Oh no, you're not writing down a list... I might as well bring a moving van if I let you do that, just give me the essentials."

Sighing in defeat, I knew it to be true, I frowned while thinking it over. "Shampoo, shaving razor, hair brush..." he interjected quickly "Two more things only." leaving me clenching my jaw in frustration briefly "Fine. My wallet, car and house keys." Nodding as though he approved of my choices, I gave him an insolent look for his efforts "Sounds good, I'll try and find them while I'm there, no promises."

Rubbing my face tiredly as he started to walk away, I called out "I'm definitely using your shower or bath, whatever you have, when I get there. Just a heads up." he nodded and continued to the bikes where one of the guys was waiting to give him a ride, I couldn't see who. That left just me and Barney standing there awkwardly for a few moments before he snapped out of it and gestured me to follow.

Fast forward a few minutes and I was wrapped up in an old jacket vastly too big for me and clinging to Barney, who I had legitimately spoken only several sentences to, and driving off to Gunnar's place. During the ride I slowly went over the events of the past few days critically and wondered at what the future held for me. Would I be able to return home? What about my bills, job, all that other mundane normal human stuff? I guess I'd have to approach Gunnar about the majority of it, surely he'd have some kind of input for me.

Maybe it was the depth of my thoughts or maybe Gunnar's home wasn't actually that far from the hangar we left behind, but when we stopped I jerked a little in surprise and looked around to see us there. Hopping off the motorcycle and gripping the old jacket to myself I followed after Barney and stepped inside as the door slid up, looking back at him as he stood out there. He seemed thoughtful as he looked at me for a minute before he spoke "I accept that you left some parts of your meeting with Gunnar out" I paused, immediately knowing my expression gave that away some more, then nodded slowly in defeat as he continued.

"I'm not giving you the code to get out of here, Gunnar can do that after he's laid out some ground rules for you. Depending on how this all blows over, you may not be able to go back to your old place at all, you know." I nodded despondently "This lifestyle isn't for you and it seems you really didn't pick it either, so I'm sorry for that. I know Gunnar's bathroom is in the back" he made a vague gesture as I stared at him sadly "He'll be here within the hour. See you later, Kayle." Taking a slow breath as he tapped the keys to make the door slide down again, I finally muttered "Thanks Barney" and turned around to face my new and hopefully temporary, dark home.


	9. Chapter 9

Wow this is way beyond overdue! I'm sorry I took so long, and that this is a bit smaller than I wanted it to be, but I was struggling with it and am glad it's out so I can move forward. That said, enjoy!

It did not take me long to hunt down the shower after getting the lights turned on, it was located in Gunnar's room. My strong desire to not invade his privacy was overridden by the fact I was covered head to toe in various shades and types of filth, never mind the smell either. No tub, just a shower that made me think of my high school locker room showers but thankfully with a shower curtain.

I tried not to take in too many details of his room because I felt it snoopy, but it was pretty sparse and plain anyways. His bathroom was simple, the shower and a sink with a small mirror hanging well above my own height, probably just for shaving I bet. Grabbing a towel that was hanging on a hook beside the toilet I scrubbed myself dry happily and promptly sighed when I realized I had no other clothes to wear but the ones I came in.

Even though I was stuck wearing the old clothes again I still felt cleaner and was happy as a result. At some point I slumped down on his couch and fell asleep, thankfully too tired to be bothered by disturbing dreams. It was a wonder that I woke up with a start when I heard the sliding door rising, rubbing at my eyes and watching Gunnar step in with a couple bags in hand, shutting the door behind him before looking over at me.

I perked up and looked at the bags in his hand as he strode over tiredly, dropping them at my feet without a word and taking off to his room. Feeling it necessary to fill him in I called after him hurriedly "Hey, I did end up using your shower. Thank you for grabbing some of my stuff too!" I was rewarded with a grunt in response and couldn't find it in myself to fret over whether he approved of my shower usage or not, it was time to see what he brought.

The first bag was the five original things I had requested and the second was actually a fair selection of clothing, I deduced that whoever took him over to my house initially probably had something to do with him bringing the extra clothing. Gunnar didn't strike me as the kind of person to be mindful of this sort of thing, not that it mattered either way. The sound of the shower turning on brought me out of my thoughtful reverie, leaving me looking at the wall I knew he was behind with a small smile on my face.

Despite the hellish past few days I couldn't help but feel thankful that I had made it through alive and mostly in tact, largely due to Gunnar himself. I resolved that I would find a way to thank him and try to make the most of this poor situation while I was at it. Sorting out some clothes I tossed on a simple black t-shirt and some baggy track pants, not worried about being seen since I could still hear the shower going.

My bloodied jeans and bra were promptly tossed in the big trash can that was beside the lonely table. I hoped I could throw away those bad memories as easily, but the realist in me knew it wasn't going to be that easy. During the time Gunnar was in the shower I picked through each of her items slowly and deliberately, rubbing the keys to my house and car in my fingers experimentally, as if they had been changed in some way.

When the shower turned off it was only a few minutes before Gunnar came sauntering out, infinitely more relaxed and refreshed than when he went in there, I'm sure I looked similar when I walked out too. Toeing my bags to the side of the couch I leaned back into it and watched him with a tired smile that I couldn't help, even as he kept complete eye contact with me in the process of coming over and sitting down on the opposite end of the couch. My chest constricted and I knew if I didn't seize some initiative quickly I was going to end up blushing from the intensity of our staring contest, so I blinked and said "Well the shower looks like it did you about as much good as it did me, surprised you didn't just go to bed to be honest. I don't recall you sleeping yet, course I was sleeping the majority of the time and.."

My voice had gotten weaker and weaker as he started to lean towards me with that intense look in his eyes not lessening in the slightest, leaving me almost whispering as he planted his hands on the couch on either side of me and finally cutting off what I was saying when he leaned in and planted a kiss on my lips that left me stunned by the intensity of it. Feeling a sharp bite on my lip I gasped in surprise and found my mouth being quickly invaded and explored by his tongue. This felt like something forbidden to me and the thought left an icy thrill shooting up my spine as I reached up and pressed my hands to his chest, fingertips curling into the thin black t-shirt I now wished he never bothered to put on in the first place.

Abruptly he pulled away from me and I was left gawking in my place, fingers curled at the air and no doubt a bright red blush on my face as he stretched languidly and smirked down at me "Yeah, I'm tired. Going to bed." My hands slowly fell into my lap and my eye twitched as I watched him saunter off to his bedroom. Were I in better condition, I would have run his ass down, or at least that is what I imagined doing to him as I listened to his door shut with finality.

At some point I stopped gawking, touching my lips and grimacing at my level of arousal and got around to turning the lights off and falling into the sleep of the dead on his couch. I'd be lying if I said we did little more than bathe and sleep for two solid days. By the third day I was itchy, stir crazy, tired of eating fast food and still flustered over the event of the first night. Gunnar was sitting at his table and sharpening his knife, which appeared to be his only hobby as far as I could tell.

I took the opportunity to turn the TV off and approach him, making sure he at least heard the squeak of the couch to know I was moving around. I didn't know if he was jittery with his knife or not and I had every intention to not find out if that was the case. Much to my pleasure he was wearing another tight black t-shirt that left little to my rampant imagination, if it was going to be this boring around here for however long I had to be here, I was going to have some fun.

He slowly turned his head to look over his shoulder at me, a brow quirked in curiosity as I dragged my fingertips across his back from one shoulder to the other, smiling as I came around to his side and gingerly placed my hand beside where his gunshot wound was, keeping my eyes on his face to watch for any kind of adverse reactions to what I was doing. "How is your shoulder doing? You seem to be less sore at least." I kept my hand where it was as he slowly smirked at me. "Doing good. How about you? Your bruises look better." I looked like I took part in some kind of abstract body painting activity, truth be told, but I chuckled and humored him anyways.

"Good. Although, I definitely need you to get some kind of groceries in here so I can use your stove and make something decent." He nodded in agreement. "But there is something that has been bothering me." My fingertips slowly curled at his shoulder, not painfully, but a gesture to be noticed. He placed his knife in it's sheath and turned in his chair to look at me more comfortably, all while I felt a probably misplaced sense of empowerment standing in front of him while he was sitting, seeing as he was almost as tall as me regardless.

"What is that?" he finally responded, in a deeper tone that my insides gave a twist in response to. My hand slowly lowered from his shoulder and clung to his knee, giving it a little squeeze as I spoke in a low tone of voice. "Why have we not picked up where we left off two days ago?" My eyes wandered from his own heated gaze to his lips, licking my own in a little anticipation of what I may have just started.

In a moment I was pulled up against him and locked in a fierce kiss. My hands coming up to his neck and fingertips curling into the soft hair there, eliciting a low rumble from him as he grabbed my ass firmly in his hands and stood up, picking me up with him and striding towards his room purposefully while our tongues dueled aggressively. This felt right and I could feel all the tension of the past days coming to the forefront between the both of us, all of which I planned to work out vigorously with him.

After our bed related wrestling match was over, we remained in a tangled, spent heap. Dead to the world for who knows how long, I wasn't counting and neither was he. In time I slowly woke up to gaze over his pleasing chest and stomach, my head resting on his shoulder. Glancing up at him to see if he was still asleep—which he was, I smiled and slowly slid my hand across his warm skin, admiring the feel of his firm muscles beneath my fingers.

Regrettably my actions were cut short by his hand reaching up and stopping mine in place, leaving me looking up at him and into his now open and dark eyes with a curious quirk of my brow and a little grin at the corner of my lips. "Hmmm?" I inquired, even though I knew full well what I was doing. "Too sore and I want a shower." he grumbled in a deep, sleepy tone. Leaning forwards slightly he sniffed me and smirked "You do, too." I couldn't get offended because it was true, so I smirked in response and turned away from him, even though getting away from his comforting warmth saddened me "Alright, go do it, I'll wait."

Closing my eyes and smiling I felt him slide out of bed and stomp into the shower, then listened as he cleaned up. This feeling of deep relaxation was not going to last and I planned on making it count, so I drifted back into a light sleep until I felt him give me a firm poke in the back "All yours" he rumbled; that left me to get out of bed and get clean myself. The operation of my limbs was difficult, but I didn't regret any of the new bruises or extra sore muscles that plagued me this time, it was all good.

When I was done showering I peeked my head out of the doorway to make sure the coast was clear, excluding Gunnar who was sitting and watching TV, I shuffled towards my bags butt naked and got dressed in front of him. It pleased me to know that his attention was not on the TV by the time I was done. Under his darkened gaze I kept my cool and seated myself beside him on the couch with a little smile, sighing in contentment as I relaxed and turned my head to look at him.

"How about you get some groceries today and I refrain from telling you I want to go back to my house and be annoying in general?" his lips curled down in a slight frown as he weighed his options, but we both knew that my cooking was enjoyable so it was clearly an easy choice. "Fine, I'll get the groceries. You make a list." He made a vague gesture towards the table where I knew some paper and pens were laying there.

I was about to go start writing it down but before my butt could even get off the couch I found myself trapped in his arms and pulled back into him firmly, his deep voice directly in my ear leaving me shivering excitedly "Not yet. There is no rush." I could feel his grin against my ear as he purposefully gave my sore hips a firm squeeze, and then slowly slid his hands up my sides to my breasts where he squeezed and played with them while toying with my neck with his lips and teeth, leaving me breathless and all but delirious with excitement.


	10. Chapter 10

There's a time for teasing and there is a time for action. The time for action, my friends, is now. And by that I mean incomin' lovin'!

* * *

Dark brown eyes narrowed until the flesh between the eyebrows knitted together, glaring over a small circular pair of sunglasses into the wide, fearful eyes of Shila. "You told them where he was held?" the man's voice was low and smooth, verbal honey, but loaded with intent. Although she was standing and he was sitting, Shila fidgeted uncomfortably and looked down at the heavy wooden desk between herself and Shaw. "Yes... I had no options. You know if there was another way I would have-" his voice cut sharply through hers, her shoulders jerking backwards slightly in surprise and fear. "You had an option, Shila. Your life was not more valuable than that information, and you knew it then just as much as you know it now."

Shaws hands were interlocked in front of him at chest level, fingertips tracing at his smooth black tie casually. He dressed sharp, like any man with the power he possessed would, in his own opinion. Shilas eyes were struggling to return to something smaller and more controlled than dollar sized as she kept silent, waiting for him to continue. Drawing it out to watch her shift uncomfortably and look at anyone but him, he finally uttered in a tired, disgusted tone "From now on, the end of the Expendables is your life, do you hear me? And this girl?" fingers quickly uncoiling from one another to jab an accusatory finger at the television silently playing footage of what happened at the facility, Kayle stumbling down a hallway visible at that moment. "She dies too. Don't fuck this up, Shila. You aren't even on thin ice any more."

Mouth set in a grim line, he ran a hand slowly through his short dyed blonde hair before resting his hands on their respective chair arms, silently dismissing Shila who had almost bowed—he saw her stiff forward tilt—before rushing to be out of his office, closing the tall wooden door shut behind her quickly. Staring into the screen as he watched the group run off into the woods, he slammed his hand against the top of the desk angrily "Fuck you, Gunnar!"

After an animated phone conversation between Yang and himself, Gunnar was relieved to hear the familiar roar of Yang's motorcycle pull up in front of his home. Stepping up to the sliding door he keyed in the code and leaned there with his arms crossed. First he saw the grocery bags loaded in Yang's arms before the door finally cleared his head and revealed his friend frowning up at him "This is the only time I'm doing this for you, I have a family to visit with you know." Quirking a brow and smirking down at his friend, he accepted the groceries into his arms and passed off the money for them in the same gesture. "We both know you don't have a family, Yang."

"Yeah, whatever." came Yang's sarcasm loaded reply. His expression quickly changing to curiosity as he leaned to the side and glanced around Gunnars frame "So, where is she and how is she doing?" Rolling his eyes at his friend's lack of subtlety he grunted "She's here and fine, you can see her another day or something, shoo." Stepping aside he ignored Yang's protests as he set the door sliding back down. Yang only fell silent however when Kayle proudly strode out of Gunnar's room ass naked and looked around imperiously for all of two seconds before her eyes popped, her entire body turned red and she flung herself back into Gunnar's room. Yang's laughter filled the empty spaces of the building until he was shut out by the door closing.

Silence pervaded the area before Gunnars low chuckle cut through it, followed by his heavy gait strolling over to the small fridge that rested beside an old stove that quite possibly had never been used. I stood behind the closed door of his room, calming myself by listening to Gunnar and his lack of reaction to my inadvertent show. Groceries were placed, bags were tossed to the side and the fridge door finally finished it's brief opening and closing spree before I heard him approaching the door I stood behind. Stepping back from the door slowly, still fully nude, I felt my pupils dilating into what had to be specs as a rush of adrenaline and excitement hit me.

Listening to his hand closing around the doorknob, I felt as though time around me was moving slower while my body went in to overload, the rush of my arousal suddenly as bright and intense as a supernova inside me. As the door flung open, I tossed my caution to the wind along with it and all but leaped onto Gunnar, who's expression was so surprised I'd have to find time to laugh about it later. Lunging forwards as though I was spring loaded, I leaped upwards and clapped my arms over his shoulders. Thankfully, Gunnar was as surefooted as ever and was only driven backwards a foot as my legs curled around his stomach and hands gripped onto him tightly.

Staring into his eyes with what could probably be misconstrued for malice, were he not already familiar with the intensity in which I liked to get my pleasure, I felt his hands respond and grip my ass cheeks tightly. This gesture happened within a moment but I responded to it fiercely, all but snarling as his lips parted and invited mine to clash with his. Our mouths met and it all finally clicked with Gunnar, who then stepped to the side of the door and slammed me up against the wall roughly as my tongue stroked the roof of his mouth, earning a sharp groan of pleasure to which I responded with a breathy groan of my own.

Pinned to the wall with his chest, I clung to him with my legs and closed my eyes as his tongue shoved past mine and mimicked the previous actions of my own tongue with zeal. His hands freed to wander and mine no longer focused on holding myself against him, I dragged my fingertips down the sensitive flesh of his spine firmly, feeling the rising heat of his skin through the thin material of his t-shirt and enjoying the snarl of pleasure I elicited from the action. His left hand clenched my hip tightly, forcing a gasp from me that left my eyes almost rolling into my head, while his right immediately sought the junction between my legs.

My hips jerked as his hand brushed against my throbbing skin, it felt like the entire area was wired to my racing pulse and I knew he felt it too when he let out what almost sounded like a growl as his hand became immediately covered in my juices. The groan itself almost undid me, but the feeling of a thick finger sliding deep inside my cunt followed by his hand pressing up against my tender flesh and literally yanking me upwards a notch up the wall elicited a sharp cry from me as our mouths separated and he pinned my head to the wall with his forehead to mine, whispering in an intensely aroused, commanding tone "Do it."

Thrusting his finger in and out of me rapidly, a second finger joining the first only a few moments later, I was gripping his shoulders and gasping for air in short order as he drove my ass into the wall repeatedly with just his hand and left me crying out in intense release, my head tossing back and my mouth falling open as his left hand squeezed my hip at the same time I climaxed. "Ahh!" I cried out inarticulately while simultaneously becoming dead weight against him, breathing raggedly and barely registering what was going on around me.

Through my lusty haze I heard the sound of Gunnar's belt being loosed as he balanced me against the wall on a forearm, working his pants off in a frenzy until I heard them go flying somewhere. With that few moments respite over I crashed up against the wall again and felt his stiff cock stroking against my soaking wet folds while our foreheads pinned together and we glared at one another. My mouth slowly opened as I felt his cock slide to a halt and the head press up against my sensitized hole, his mouth mimicking mine until I heard his voice. "You. Are. Mine." His voice was so low and deep I barely understood what he said, but he made his intent clear before I had time to get too juiced up over his voice alone.

My fingertips curled into the flesh beneath his shirt as he slammed inside me, my back hitting the wall with a forceful thud and immediately falling into that rhythm as he started to mercilessly work towards his own release. Gasping for breaths as my sensitive breasts ground and slapped into his chest while my hips tried to thrust back against his, now held in place by his vice like grip, I nearly howled into his lips as I felt another orgasm rush through me "I'm yours, YES!"

My exultant cry spurred him on even harder, leaving me feeling a sharp stab of pain through my hips with every thrust and extra hard grip of his fingers, his cock jerking inside me let me know he was close to his desperate release. "Take me!" I demanded with a breathless snarl into his lips, locking them together into a fierce kiss that finally set him off. Sucking in my breath I both listened and felt as he came undone, letting out a low groan that rumbled through his chest against mine as he slammed inside me one final time, cock jerking and his seed filling me with warmth that was soon to be sliding down my inner thighs.

We both sagged against the wall panting for breaths as he slid out of me and straightened up, leaning against me while I planted my feet to the floor and tried to enjoy my afterglow and keep standing at the same time. My hands slid down his back and came to rest just above his bare ass, rubbing the small of his back appreciatively as he chuckled and looked down at me, fingertips stroking my sides. Tilting my head back I gave him a sly smile and a wink, to which he responded with a tired looking grin. "Mmm." was all he managed to say, leaving me Mmming back at him teasingly.

"I'd blame you for not being able to walk later, but we both know I got exactly what I wanted anyways." I mumbled up at him and pressed my body firmer up against his, feeling our cooling juices rubbing up against my stomach, leaving us both chuckling. "Damn straight" he mumbled, slowly leaning off of me and looking around for his pants as I leaned against the wall and admired him, a little part of me sad I never managed to get his shirt off too.

Later that evening after recovery, bathing, fresh clothing and laughing about Yang seeing me buck naked, we were sitting at the table enjoying fresh dinner. Munching on a mouthful of salad I watched him thoughtfully as he ate, cutting chunks out of his steak with the forced slowness of someone who doesn't want to be perceived as a pig in front of a guest, leaving me smirking. Swallowing my salad and clearing my throat to get his attention, he looked down and across the table at me and I momentarily lost my words while looking into his eyes.

Blinking in surprise at my moment of sappiness I caught myself and returned to the moment of levity with a chuckle "You can eat however you want by the way. Table manners don't mean much to me." Tilting his head slightly he smirked and swallowed his bite of steak before responding, setting his fork and knife down on top of the salad and remaining steak on his plate. "Alright, so you noticed I wanted to eat the steak faster. But there is more you want to say, don't think I haven't noticed that. It's great by the way, the steak." he quirked a brow and gave me his trademark lopsided smirk as he resumed eating. I had to give him credit where it was due, my home and the life that was waiting for me to return were definitely on my mind, but why wouldn't they be?

Taking a bite of my own steak I let out a happy moan. Nobody cooked steak like me, nobody. I took my time enjoying that bite, knowing full well that he was waiting for me to pipe up and tell him what was on my mind, also knowing that he wasn't going to be budging on the topic. He continued to eat while keeping his gaze leveled on me, finally pausing as I put my utensils down and looked up at him while tilting my head just slightly, pondering.

"You're right of course, got a lot on my mind and I'm sure you understand." He nodded in return, taking another bite. "I've come to enjoy your company and am thankful that you've been thoughtful enough to give me a place to stay while this all blows over... Or blows up, whatever." His chuckle made me smile before I continued "But I can't help but think about my home, my job, hell even my bills. I miss my place, Gunnar. Not much else I can really say about it I guess," I gave a shrug and a flick of my wrist in a frustrated, dismissive gesture "I just don't want this to become an uncomfortable thing. No doubt I'm going to start getting stir crazy soon. I'm a get out and do things kind of person you know? Or at least play video games or something, being inactive is not me."

"So, that is what has been on my mind." He kept that steady, calculating look leveled at me for some time, to which I gave him a shrug. We remained in comfortable silence until not a leaf of salad or scrap of steak was left on our respective plates. Leaning back in my chair I let out a happy sigh and rested my hands on my overly full stomach while he did similar, but his long legs reached out to mine and his big feet idly tapped against mine. When he tilted his head back and let out a huge belch I jerked in surprise, opening up my eyes and looking at him. Looking back at me with an accusing grin he remarked "You said it didn't matter!"

I had to laugh and he joined in, the tones of our voices happy and relaxed before dwindling off again, leaving us both smiling. "Well, I do understand your problem. We'll think of something, I certainly don't want to deal with you getting like you did in that room again." He smirked at the recollection and mimicked a smirk back. "Maybe I can get someone to get your mail over here and keep an eye on your place. It wouldn't be a good idea for either of us to be spotted around there any time soon." I nodded thoughtfully in response and let out a little homesick sigh.

"Thank you, Gunnar. Maybe tomorrow we can brainstorm something. But right now I need to unplug my mind and go to bed." I smiled across the table at him, even though my thoughts turned towards the fact that if I had never met him I would never have been in this situation to begin with. I found myself unable to truly regret my experience so far, even if the room and the following escape haunted my dreams. He nodded and gestured me off "Go ahead, I'll get the dishes." Nodding at him I gripped the corners of the table and stood up with sore jelly legs, leaving him grinning at me as I purposefully ignored him and hobbled off to his bed.

I was all too thankful that I was sleeping in the bed and not on the couch, as proven by the fact that as soon as my face hit the mattress I was asleep immediately. However, my dreamless sleep felt like it had only lasted moments before a pain blooming in my chest jerked me awake. Struggling to gain my senses as I felt more sharp jabs, I raised my hands and curled up defensively before I realized Gunnar was beside me muttering incoherently and making violent gestures.

Unfortunately I was on the receiving end of them and ended up falling out of the bed in alarm, whispering worriedly "Gunnar? Gunnar, wake up!" Struggling to get up with my sore legs I settled for leaning against the bed and sitting on my knees, watching him thrash with a deep pang of sympathy. There was no way I was going to try and wake up someone with the kind of killing capacity he had, however. I didn't think he'd fault me for that decision either, not that it mattered.

There was a point where he went still and chuckled darkly, chilling my insides. I waited what felt like forever to see if he was going to thrash again before slowly climbing back into the bed, jumping slightly when he reached over and curled an arm over me to bring me close. What would have been a warming enjoyable gesture jerked me awake instead. Sleep was not going to come back easily, if at all.

I was staring at the bandaged face of my attacker, frowning thoughtfully as he stood there staring back. "This is a dream. You are gone." I pointed out matter of factly. "It is not over. You see this room?" The spectre gestured grandly to my prison. "This is your life now. You stuck with him and this is how you'll be rewarded." All at once I felt the room twist to take on a horrible reality, my vision being reduced to nothing before the grim smiling face of that dead man faded back into view again.

"Dead in a room, ditch, box, it doesn't matter." lips curling into a sickening rotting toothed grin as the familiar sharp rod he once carried was suddenly visible in his raised hand "still dead!" voice raised in exultation as he finished his speech, the raised rod coming down at my eye in a rush.

Gasping back to reality I almost bumped Gunnar in the face with my own, his thick arm was across my chest and held me down from jerking up to a seated position while his fingers stroked my scalp soothingly. "Wake up, shh." I was panting for breath as my head fell back into the pillow and my eyes half closed, looking at Gunnars concerned features while willing my heart to slow down, reality coming back to me. "Just a dream. Sorry Gunnar."


End file.
